Around three weeks after the disappearance of six-year-old Arian, investigators in northern Lower Saxony want to intensify the search for the autistic child again. “We now don’t understand why the boy isn’t found somewhere,” police spokesman Heiner van der Werp told the German Press Agency on Monday. Many people were out and about along the Oste River on the sunny long weekend.
Another search operation on the river is planned this week. “We will also use technical equipment,” said the spokesman. As a second measure, the residents of the towns near Arian’s home in Bremervörde-Elm will be asked again whether they have made any observations. “It will be a kind of door cleaning,” said van der Werp.
The autistic boy has been missing since April 22nd. Police believe he left home on his own. For a week, hundreds of emergency services and volunteers searched day and night on land, in the air and in the water for Arian. Search dogs, a cavalry squadron, helicopters, drones, a tornado plane, an amphibious vehicle, boats and divers were used. At the end of April, the police initially stopped the active search. A group of five investigators is continuing to work on the case and following up on clues.
The uncertainty is very stressful for the relatives and everyone involved, said the police spokesman. An accident still seems most likely because Arian left his home alone on the evening of April 22nd. Footage from a private surveillance camera shows the six-year-old running towards the forest. But investigations are being carried out in all directions, said the spokesman: “We have never ruled out the possibility that he was kidnapped.”
