Missing in Bremervörde
Extraordinary tip from southern Germany: Police search river for missing Arian
Police officers are searching the Oste for Arian with a sonar boat
© Daniel Bockwoldt / DPA
Police, fire departments and volunteers searched feverishly for six-year-old Arian for a week. Without success. Now the investigators are dependent on clues.
The fate of six-year-old Arian from Bremervörde in northern Lower Saxony remains unclear. As the Police announced on Wednesday that the fire brigade and police searched the Oste River from Bremervörde to the mouth of the Oste into the Elbe on Tuesday. The background was that a woman from southern Germany had seen an object in the water in the live stream of a webcam that shows the Oste at the height of the Osten-Hemmoor transporter bridge. “The woman reacted well,” said the police spokesman. “She contacted the police directly.”
Firefighters then searched the water near the Osten–Hemmoor transporter bridge in the Cuxhaven district. The police also used a drone, a special search dog and a police helicopter. This flew from the east from Bremervörde to the mouth of the east into the Elbe. “It was an event-related search,” explained the police spokesman, who spoke of an extraordinary tip. But: “We haven’t found the boy. We don’t know what it was,” he said, referring to the object the woman had seen. One possible explanation for Arian’s disappearance is that the boy fell into the river.
Search stopped – but investigators continue on Arian’s trail
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 also used. In addition, the helpers also used unusual means – such as playing children’s songs, distributing colorful balloons and using spotlights at night. These were supposed to attract the boy. Another possible explanation for his disappearance was that he could be hiding in the field and forest area.
At the end of April, the police stopped the active search; a group of five investigators is continuing to work on the case and follow up on clues. Since then, the police have only searched on a case-by-case basis.
“We are still investigating in all directions,” said the police spokesman on Wednesday. “It seems most likely that it is an accident,” he said. The boy may have fallen into the Oste River. But there are still many question marks. “We think many possibilities are conceivable,” said the spokesman. Accordingly, the police continue to receive tips from the public on a daily basis.