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Missing 6-year-old in Northern Germany confirmed dead

June 27, 2024

Police in northern Germany have confirmed the death of a missing 6-year-old boy with autism. The child, who had been missing for several days, was found near Bremervörde.

https://p.dw.com/p/4hbHO
Bundeswehr soldiers search the shore not far from the Oste.
Hundreds of forces, helpers and emergency services were involved in the initial search for ArianImage: Philipp Schulze/dpa/picture alliance

Police and prosecutors confirmed Thursday the body found earlier this week on a farm in Behrste, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Hamburg in Germany, was the missing six-year-old child Arian.

The 6-year-old who was living with Autism and went missing in April.

There were no indications of foul play, investigators said.

The Institute of Forensic Medicine Hamburg-Eppendorf confirmed the boy's identity through a DNA test.

Farmer found Arian's body

Arian was last seen leaving his parents' home on April 22. Hundreds of helpers and emergency services searched for the boy for days without success.

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

Police were said to have several theories about what could have happened to Arian, with the most likely being that he had an accident without any outside involvement.

They added that the body was found in an area that the emergency services had previously combed during the large-scale search in April, though they did not clarify why it was not spotted at the time.

rmt/lo (AFP, dpa)