The police are again looking for the missing Arian (6). On Wednesday, several police officers searched in a neighboring town. All news for searching in the ticker.
11.34 a.m.: The search for the missing Arian from Bremervörde-Elm in Lower Saxony continued on Wednesday. In the town of Gräpel, which is next to Elm, several police officers were walking around. Police cars could also be seen in the village. As a dpa reporter reported, officers are knocking on doors to talk to residents.
10:30 a.m.: Six-year-old Arian has been missing for more than three weeks. Hundreds of emergency services searched intensively for the boy for a week. Today the search continues. An expert in missing person cases explains what could have happened – and what he would have done differently in the Arian case.
Wednesday, May 15th, 9:51 a.m.: The police will continue to search for six-year-old Arian in northern Lower Saxony today. Teams of investigators, with the support of riot police, will question residents in the communities of Estorf, Hude, Brobergen and Kranenburg, as the police announced on Tuesday. “The aim of this measure is to obtain possible information that has not yet been received by the police.” The investigators are hoping for new insights from residents who were recently on vacation and on video footage from surveillance cameras.
On Thursday, the investigative group says it plans to search the Oste River again, particularly between Arian’s home town of Bremervörde and Kranenburg. Sonar boats will be on the move, and divers and special sniffer dogs will also be used.
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, amphibious vehicles, boats and divers were used.
11:48 a.m.: The missing person case involving six-year-old Arian raises numerous questions that investigators have still not been able to clarify. They assume that the boy left the house alone, but to this day they have no trace.
You can read more about the course of events and what theories are circulating around the case here.
Monday, May 13th, 8:10 a.m.: 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 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 underway in all directions, the spokesman said: “We have never ruled out the possibility that he was kidnapped.”
Wednesday, May 8th, 11:08 a.m.: The fate of six-year-old Arian from Bremervörde in northern Lower Saxony remains unclear. As the police announced on Wednesday, the fire brigade and police searched the Oste River from Bremervörde to the Oste estuary 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 didn’t find the boy. We don’t know what it was,” he said, referring to the object the woman had seen.
The autistic boy has been missing since April 22nd. “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.
Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 7:19 a.m.: A week ago, the police stopped the active search for the missing Arian from Bremervörde in northern Lower Saxony, and there is still no trace of the six-year-old. “It’s a very tough investigation at the moment,” said a police spokesman. “That’s still the big question mark: What really happened?”
The autistic boy was reported missing on April 22nd. Police believe he left home on his own. For a week, hundreds of emergency responders and volunteers searched day and night for Arian – at times using dogs, horses, helicopters, drones, a Tornado plane, amphibious vehicles, boats and diving equipment. At the end of April, the police stopped the active search and a group of five investigators is continuing to work on the case.
“We have not gained any information since then,” admitted the police spokesman. “We are still receiving tips, but they have become significantly fewer.” Some would thank the investigators for their efforts, others would report on their experiences with autistic children and give tips for further searches. A pianist reported on social networks that he had seen the boy. The police also followed up on this tip and searched the area again with dogs, said the spokesman.
The police say they are investigating in all directions. There is therefore no evidence of a crime. Among other things, it is suspected that the child may have fallen into the Oste River. On Sunday, the crew of a police helicopter kept an eye out for the boy during a routine flight to the mouth of the Elbe. But she also discovered no clue to the six-year-old’s whereabouts, said the police spokesman. “We are as smart as ever.”
The spokesman promised that the investigative team would stay on the case. The investigation will continue for at least two months. A colleague from the investigation team is in contact with Arian’s family. “The contact is still very close, even if the family is no longer under police care,” said the police spokesman.
Monday, May 6, 2024, 8:03 a.m.: In the search for the missing six-year-old Arian from Bremervörde in northern Lower Saxony, the police are still in the dark. There are no new clues, a police spokesman said on Sunday. A police spokesman had previously said that previous information was being processed piece by piece. The autistic boy was reported missing on April 22nd. The police assume that he left his home on his own – the authorities immediately initiated searches with hundreds of emergency services.
For a week, the emergency services and local volunteers searched day and night for Arian – at times with dogs, horses, helicopters, drones, a tornado plane, amphibious vehicle, boats and diving equipment. The police stopped the active search on Tuesday, and a group of five investigators has continued to work on the case since then.
The police say they are investigating in all directions. There is therefore no evidence of a crime. Among other things, it is suspected that the child may have fallen into the Oste River.
According to a report in the “Bild-Zeitung”, the crew of a police helicopter flew from the boy’s home to the mouth of the Elbe on Sunday morning. A police spokesman told the newspaper that it was a routine flight – the regular water surveillance flight. On the return flight, the helicopter flew the route again, “because it was on the way there anyway. But it is not a targeted search for clues or traces.” According to the report, the flight did not provide any new information.
8:05 a.m.: Six-year-old Arian from Bremervörde in northern Lower Saxony remains missing. There are “a lot of clues,” but no solid leads, a police spokesman said on Friday. The clues would be processed piece by piece. The autistic boy was reported missing on April 22nd. Police believe he left home on his own. The police immediately initiated search measures with hundreds of emergency services.
For a week, emergency services and local volunteers searched for Arian day and night – at times with dogs, horses, helicopters, drones, a tornado plane, amphibious vehicle, boats and diving equipment. The police say they are investigating in all directions. There is therefore no evidence of a crime. Among other things, it is suspected that the child may have fallen into the Oste River.
Friday, May 3rd, 2024, 7:07 a.m.: Since the disappearance of six-year-old Arian from Bremervörde in northern Lower Saxony, the police have received hundreds of tips. These would be checked, a police spokesman said on Thursday. There is no new lead yet. Arian’s family will probably continue to be looked after by the police until the end of this week. “This is slowly coming to an end,” said the spokesman. “At some point you have to say goodbye there too.”
“First and foremost, it’s about transparently communicating to parents what we’re doing so that they can be taken along,” explained the police spokesman. The police team is trying to support the relatives. And: “For us, the mood in the family is important.” The family also had offers of support from the emergency pastoral care.
The autistic boy was reported missing on the evening of Monday, April 22nd. Police believe he left home on his own. The boy’s father alerted the police, who immediately initiated searches with hundreds of emergency services.
For a week, emergency services and local volunteers searched day and night for Arian – at times with dogs, horses, helicopters, drones, a Tornado plane, amphibious vehicles, boats and diving equipment. On Tuesday, the police stopped the active search after a week. A group of five investigators is continuing to work on the case.
The police say they are investigating in all directions. There is therefore no evidence of a crime. One assumption is therefore that the child could have fallen into the Oste River. The flow rate is high, said the spokesman. The police had searched the East and smaller bodies of water near the boy’s home several times with boats and divers, but had not found the child.
Read more about the search on the next page.