Authorities use drones to look for Arian near the Oste River.
The hunt for six-year-old Arian has shifted gears. Rather than large scale operations, the police are focusing on targeting key areas. This time around, they're searching the river near his home again with a larger team. Drones are being utilized to navigate rough terrain.
It's been about a month since Arian vanished from Bremervörde in Lower Saxony, and the authorities are back at it with renewed efforts. They've looked through the River Oste with drones in the past with no luck. This time, around 60 officers from all across Lower Saxony were roped in for a 70-kilometer stretch on the river between Bremervörde and where it empties into the Elbe. There was no specific reason for the search this time, but they're zooming in on areas that are tough for boats to reach.
Arian, who resides in Elm (a part of Bremervörde), has been missing since April 22nd. His parents reported him missing from their house. Shortly after his disappearance, over a thousand people joined in the search every day, scouring cities, fields, and forests. They brought in drones, sniffer dogs, helicopters, sonar boats, divers, and even an air force reconnaissance jet. But by the end of April, the massive hunt was called off.
Despite not finding him, a special police investigation team has been leading the charge in hunting for clues. They've had a few more searches since then, one lasting for two days in mid-May. There's a possibility that Arian, an autistic boy, could've fallen into the river. He left his house alone at night and was captured on surveillance cameras not long after. His trail, however, went cold after that.
The Oste river, which flows through Bremervörde, has been checked several times in the past, even at its mouth. Arian could've potentially fallen into the river. His parents noticed that he was missing in the evening and CCTV cameras caught a glimpse of him nearby, but his trail was lost afterward.
The cops aren't ready to give up
The police have made it clear that the five-person investigation team isn't giving up just yet. They plan on working on existing leads for the next two months. According to them, the most probable scenario is that Arian may have had an accident with no external involvement. The tiny footprints found in the Oste River, likely belonging to Arian, don't support a criminal case.
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Source: www.ntv.de
