Emergency services search a wooded area near Bremervörde (Lower Saxony) for six-year-old Arian. The autistic boy disappeared from his parents’ home and was found dead two months later.

BREMERVÖRDE 23.04.2024

Sina Schuldt
dpa photographer, 
Bremen office

“We were almost ready to promise that we would find him, and we couldn’t keep that promise.” That was a police spokesman’s conclusion after a two-month search for a six-year-old boy.

Most missing children turn up quickly. But this was not the case with Arian from Bremervörde in Lower Saxony, who was autistic, non-verbal and was probably hiding from his rescuers because he was frightened.

In April 2024, the nights were cold, sometimes below freezing. The first report came in to the police the morning after the boy disappeared. The area that I cover is large, and I was on my way to a photo assignment an hour and a half away. By the time I got there, they would surely have found the boy... wouldn’t they? I set off anyway. I was one of the first to arrive at the scene and was able to accompany the police in their search efforts before the forest was cordoned off to the press.

For more than two months, my colleagues and I were there almost every day. Hundreds of firefighters, police officers and lifeguards were on duty. Search dogs, drones and boats were deployed, along with numerous volunteers. Later, the German army also joined the search. In vain. In the end, the sad truth was confirmed: Arian was dead.