Police: Body found could be that of missing 6-year-old – DW – 25.06.2024

Police in the German state of Lower Saxony said on Tuesday that they believe the body found in a meadow could be that of a child who disappeared weeks ago.

The Rotenburg police assume that “there is a connection with six-year-old Arian from Elm near Hamburg, who has been missing since April.”

What we know so far

A farmer discovered the body on Monday afternoon while mowing a meadow in the municipality of Behrste, north of Elm, police said.

Arian, a six-year-old child with autism, disappeared after he was seen leaving his parents’ house on April 22. Hundreds of volunteers and emergency services searched for the boy for days without success.

The body was found at around 4 p.m. local time (14:00 GMT) about 300 meters from a road in the area where emergency teams had been searching for the missing boy.

The police sent the body to a forensic institute to confirm its identity. The results are expected later this week.

Police are said to have several theories about what might have happened to Arian. The most likely is that he had an accident without any third-party involvement.

Rescue workers found small footprints on the Oste River, which investigators believe belonged to Arian.

Arian was last seen on a Monday evening in late April. A surveillance camera caught him leaving his parents’ house in Elm alone and running towards a nearby forest.

He was last seen wearing an orange long-sleeved sweater, black sweatpants with a dragon print and socks.

rc/rmt (dpa, AFP)