Germany: – Autistic Arians (6) missing:

Six-year-old Arian Arnold was reported missing last Monday, April 22, from Elm in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany. According to the Bild newspaper, the six-year-old disappeared from his parents’ house around 7.30pm – wearing only socks and a thin sweater.

It must have been below zero the following nights, the newspaper writes.

The boy is said to have been filmed by a surveillance camera when he ran out of the family’s home, in the direction of the forest. The six-year-old must have been alone, writes the German news channel DW.

Large-scale search operation

Furthermore, it is stated that Arian has very poor language and that he does not respond to inquiries.

For a whole week, 1,200 people from the police, the army, the fire service, the Red Cross and the rescue service have been looking for the boy. Over 800 volunteers have also assisted in the large-scale search.

According to Bild, an area of ​​around 15 square kilometers was thoroughly combed on Sunday. Nevertheless, there is no sign of the boy, other than some footprints which are now being investigated. It is not yet known whether these belong to the six-year-old.

The emergency services with boats, drones, dogs and amphibious vehicles have searched for Arian in the river Oste. A horse patrol from Hanover has also searched the forest area.

– The situation is dramatic

The police’s spokesperson, Heiner van der Werp, tells the newspaper that no one wants to give up hope of finding Arian alive, but that they must be “realistic”.

On Monday this week, one week after the disappearance, 250 of those deployed will be removed from the search.

Heiner van der Werp further says that the police will in future focus on “new leads or ideas”, rather than large-scale search operations.

– We are looking for a boy who would not make himself known, even if we have been close to him. The situation is dramatic. We are left empty-handed, says van der Werp.