The emergency services search for six-year-old Arian for days and nights, but they cannot find him. A look back at a touching search with great hope that is ultimately disappointed.
When Arian’s father couldn’t find his son anywhere that evening at the end of April, he immediately alerted the police. The emergency services were full of hope that they would quickly find the boy from Bremervörde in Lower Saxony. Hundreds of firefighters, police and German Life Saving Association members were on the scene. Search dogs, drones and boats were deployed, as were numerous volunteers. Later, the German army also joined in the search. In vain. More than two months after his disappearance, there is now the sad certainty: Arian is no longer alive.
The dead child that a farmer found on Monday afternoon while mowing a meadow in the district of Stade is the missing boy. This was revealed by a DNA comparison, as the police announced on Thursday afternoon – after days of waiting for the results of the forensic examination. Now there is clarity about Arian’s fate. To protect the family, the investigators do not want to say what he died of. Based on the results of the autopsy, they have ruled out a crime.
After Arian’s disappearance on April 22, the police immediately spoke of a very serious situation. “The whole story is dramatic,” said police spokesman Heiner van der Werp, referring to nighttime temperatures of sometimes below zero degrees Celsius. The police assume that the child left home on his own – in socks and lightly dressed. “The boy only recently learned how to open locked doors,” the police spokesman reported at the time. “That may be the background.”
What makes the search difficult is that Arian is autistic and cannot speak. Such a young autistic child is probably scared and difficult to find, said Bremervörde city fire department spokesman Bastian Kynast on April 23. Arian may have hidden himself. To get the boy’s attention, emergency services set off fireworks, played children’s songs, and hung up balloons and sweets. But no one found him.
The operations management quickly determines which areas will be checked and in which order. “To ensure that every spot is searched,” explains Kynast. In the days following Arian’s disappearance, the emergency services search large areas – including where Arian’s body is found around two months later. The area is just under three kilometers from Arian’s home.
The Arian case has affected many emergency services. “Of course you have to remain professional, but this is a huge challenge,” says Kynast, after being part of the municipal operations management team that night.
The police have released photos and hope that the boy with dark blond hair and brown eyes will be recognized. In one photo he is wearing the ochre-colored, long-sleeved shirt he was last seen wearing. The missing person case is now known nationwide, and many people are worried about the child. The emergency services know that it is a race against time. They do not want to give up hope that they will find Arian alive.
The German army is also involved. According to a spokeswoman for the state command, up to 250 soldiers are on site. Drones, a helicopter and a Tornado aircraft, which takes aerial photographs with a thermal imaging camera, are flying over the area. Search dogs are being used again and again, and horses are also being used to search the area. But no one has found the boy.
“We wanted to do everything humanly possible to find Arian and, if possible, bring him home,” said police spokesman Heiner van der Werp at the end of April. He too is disappointed that the child was not found. “We were almost ready to promise that we would find him, but we could not keep our promise.” After about a week of intensive searching, the police ended the major operation. The decision was made by the head of the police in consultation with the Ministry of the Interior – after the emergency services had searched an area the size of more than 7,500 football pitches, according to police reports.
An investigative team then continues to work on the case. The police team examines numerous clues, follows leads and puts forward hypotheses about what might have happened to Arian. On certain days, emergency services or volunteers gather to search. But the boy remains missing.
When a farmer discovered a child’s body while mowing a meadow at the end of June, many people immediately thought of Arian. The farmer is also certain that it is the missing boy. He recognized Arian’s shirt, he told a dpa reporter who was on site. “I knew immediately that it was the boy.”
