An intense search has been launched for a mute six-year-old boy who disappeared after his parents took their eyes off him for just three minutes.
Little Arian Arnold disappeared on Monday afternoon while playing in his garden in the small town of Elm, near Bremervoerde, in the northern state of Lower Saxony. His terrified parents alerted local police just minutes after realizing he was missing.
Authorities have since launched a major search for the boy, deploying an Army Tornado aircraft, sniffer dogs, drones, a sonar boat and several divers to the search.
The six-year-old autistic boy, who does not speak, had just started playing alone in the garden, where a trampoline and a soccer goal had been installed, and usually returned home on his own.
But when he disappeared, his parents “quickly recognized the seriousness of the situation” and called firefighters and police, who said the search for the boy was “particularly difficult” because he did not speak or respond to people.
‘Arian can barely articulate himself. We are looking for a guy who doesn’t contact us even when we are around him. He may still be out next night. The situation is dramatic,” the police chief told the German tabloid. image.
Police have now confirmed that Arian was alone when he disappeared, as CCTV shows him wandering the streets of his neighborhood alone.
Little Arian Arnold (pictured), 6, went missing on Monday afternoon while playing in his garden in Elm, in the northern state of Lower Saxony.
The Bundeswehr, the German army, joined the frantic search yesterday when it sent one of its Tornado fighter planes to scan the area using a thermal imaging camera.
More than 400 people participate in the search, step by step combing the wooded and swampy area surrounding Arian’s house.
The Bundeswehr, the German army, joined the frantic search yesterday when it sent one of its Tornado fighter jets to scan the area using a thermal imaging camera.
More than 400 people participate in the search, combing, step by step, in a human chain, the wooded and swampy area surrounding Arian’s house.
The last two nights they have searched fields, hedges and barns until late into the night in vain.
Hopes that the boy will be found alive are diminishing, as the current cold in Lower Saxony makes it “difficult to survive in the forest at two degrees below zero,” said a search volunteer.
Temperatures in the region fell below zero on the night Arian disappeared and forecasts predict colder weather after it hit around -2 degrees last night.
The fire department called this “critical” and confirmed that temperatures were “just below freezing.”
His parents’ house in Elm is located right next to rapeseed fields and a large forest, which helpers have been searching since Monday night.
In the nearby Oste River, divers and a sonar boat have been scanning the water for Arian, who was wearing an orange jumper, black dragon-print track pants and socks when he disappeared around 7:30 p.m. on Monday.
Police asked residents to check their gardens, outbuildings and private security cameras in the hope of locating the boy, as he “may also be in a shed or similar hiding place.”
“The search measures have not yet been completed, we may have to search areas that we have already searched several times,” said police spokesman Heiner van der Werp.
Police and firefighters comb a field for missing six-year-old Arian in Lower Saxony, Germany
Numerous emergency vehicles are parked along a road in the town of Elm, Lower Saxony, while hundreds of police and firefighters desperately try to locate the boy.
Emergency services with a sniffer dog race along a dirt road in Elm, Lower Saxony, frantically searching for Arian
He added: “We will continue searching piece by piece next night.” The helpers are turning over every stone to find Arian.
The spokesman said police were doing everything they could to find the boy, while they are still trying to establish how he could disappear so quickly after he had just learned to open closed doors.
“Unfortunately, we currently have no leads as to where the child could be,” police said at a news conference today.
A young woman who lives in the Arian neighborhood told Bild: ‘Everyone who lives here lives in harmony with each other. But it must be said that everyone tends to live alone and secluded. I just hope it shows up quickly.’