Bulgaria - Lars Mittank, 28, German tourist, Varna airport, 8 July 2014

[adeedra]

"Около 12.ч. на 8 юли майката получава информация от почетното консулство, според която по време на посещението си при лекаря синът й е изглеждал нормално, макар и доста притеснен. След като настоял да пътува въпреки здравословното си състояние той е бил помолен да подпише декларация, че ще лети на собствена отговорност и въпреки предупрежденията, че това може да се окаже фатално."

Which I would poorly translated to:
"Sometime around noon, 7th of July his mother gets information from consulate that during his visit at the doctor's office her soon seemed normal, but very concerned. Later he insist that he had to travel despite of his health and because of that he was asked to sign a declaration that he will fly on his own responsibility and despite of that it could end up with his death."

I don't speak Bulgarian, I don't even speak English, I'm just using all what I managed to learn by my own and I'm aware that it must be painful to read (sorry for that) but I've checked every word and every part of that text which seemed to me like it could be a phrase.

"фатално" definitely means "fatally, leathally, mortally".



At some point I started suspecting that some, or possibly all of discrepancies seem to could be effects of mistakes in translations, and some informations could be translated few times (Bulgarian-German-English-German-Bulgarian-English-Bulgarian).
Maybe that's the reason? I assumed that Bulgarian source will be te most accurate since that's the doctor's native language, but maybe someone accidentally turned "deaf" into "death" in some English article and some Bulgarian author took it as a source and re-writed it as ""фатално"?
Any form of "deafness" and "death" which I can think of and checked now doesn't look or sound simmilar in German in Bulgarian. So if it is result of some mistake or typo it has to happen during English-Bulgarian translation.


But even if so - would be that airport doctor in any way qualified/justified of asking Lars to sign anything, even if it was about possibility of losing his hearing?
Some kind of protection from Lars who could potentially end up suing him and stating that he told him that he's fine and can fly safely? Would that be even legal? Or needed? Still doesn't look like normal procedure in any way imo.
Is there any way to check that?

I have an impression that risk of "death" appeared somewhere else as well but I have to go to sleep, before I hit 24 hours of reading, watching and checking. Hope that I'll not forget few more things which I wanted to check, but I'm done for now, I have to rest and work a bit later.

Oh, one more thing - that Bulgarian source mentiones that Lars was seen somewhere 90km from Varna - I don't know if it was reported by the same truck driver which was suspecting that he gave him a lift, and it's obviously unconfirmed but i marked it anyway (that red circle has ~90km radius):

 

[katydid23]

I don't know where to start. So many things spring to mind for me, because of my own life experience, watching my little brother having the sudden onset of bi-polar syndrome. At the time, in the late 70's, he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. His 'meltdown' happened over 3 weeks or so, and it was very similar to what is being described in this case.

First, here are a few things I want to point out, in response to Adreeda's well thought out post, above.

She said:

Few more things which I didn't realise before I started digging and jumped into bandwagon of "mental breakdown"...

Of course, some kind of drug could be involved, as well as actual mental breakdown - it's possible but are odds really pointing into that?

I didn't found any source quotting Sandra Mittank saying that she believes that some mental illnes suddenly appear, she's frequently saying that she believes in that possibility.
But first thing is that people and media are extremely willing to explain any weird event that way, especially if case seems complicated, second - choosing that way is relatively "safe" option as there is no blame pushed into any direction (in this case hotel staff, city of Varna - why there is no footage of Lars from July 7th? "Golden sands" is a very expansive section of Varna, it has to be plenty of cameras, at least at hotels and some on the streets I think, police, doctor) all guilt is put on "mental illness" and people could be more willing to help, third - Lars has no history of mental illness in his family and he never acted strangely before.

Woman from taxi told that had dilated pupils at that time.
There is no information if she was driving to the airport as well, payed for both of them or got out earlier (at least I can't find it).
Dilated pupils could point at drugs but according to the timeline as he catched that ride he spend few hours hiding somewhere in the dark - maybe his pupils were dilated as any other person pupils would be in these circumstances and she assumed drugs because as they reached her it was already stated that he acted weird and runned into the woods frantically? Or she was just nervous because of the situation and as he was scared she assumed that he's nervous because of drugs?


As to the bolded above, our family had no previous history of mental illness, and my brother had no previous mental illness type of incidents. he was in his early 20's at the time. And that is why it took a few months for us to actually realize what was happening to him.

Also, dilated pupils are also a symptom of mania or schizophrenia. It may or may not indicate drug usage.

My brother lived in Bear Valley, where he was a professionals racer. DownHill Racer. He had spent the summer in Chile, outside Santiago, training with the US ski team. He was hoping to qualify for the team.

He lived with his girlfriend. My parents lived a few hours away in the Bay Area.

He called my mom a few times, and sounded strange. he asked her in hushed tones, if anyone had come to her home, looking for him. She said NO, and he said, if they do, don't tell them where I am and don't answer any questions. Then he'd hang up, and not answer her return calls.

There were no cell phones back then, so it was hard to reach him. I tried to call him at his girlfriends, finally reached her and she was confused by him as well. She thought he was hiding something from her, like a new girlfriend, and was upset with him. They had dated since high school, so she knew him well. But even she misread what was really going on with him at the time.

One night he arrived at our parents home, very late. My Mom woke up and found him looking through things in the garage. He had boxes stored there snd said he needed his birth certificate. But he wouldn't say why. But he seemed very desperate to find it.

The next morning I flew up North to talk to him because my Mom was really concerned about him. He would not answer any of her questions and seemed very nervous. She asked me to try and find out what was going on with him.

He took me into the very back part of our yard, and told me a scary but believable story. he said his gf's ex boyfriend was after him. He had been jumped by him and his friends a week earlier, and they threatened to harm him and his family. He said he couldn't tell me anymore for my own safety. But that they were crazy dangerous and he needed to lay low for awhile.

I thought he was speaking the truth. But I also wondered if he had maybe gotten involved with some coke dealers. A lot of ski racers lived the high life back then. So I thought that might be what was up.

The whole thing would take too long to describe, but it devolved into a story very similar to what has been described in the above timeline. He would not drive his own car because he thought it was 'bugged.' So he had me driving him around. And he would be seeing things out of the corner of his eyes, thinking the school crossing guard was watching him, or the lady standing behind us in the store, was following us. And I began to realize that he was either really high, or he was having a mental breakdown.

He went missing the next day. We had no idea where he went because he left a note saying he was going back to Bear Valley. But I knew he wasn't because that is where he said his 'enemies' were. But my Mom wanted to believe that is where he went.

I flew back home. My brother drove up to the mountains and looked all over for him. No one had seen him. So he went to the local Police department and reported him missing. A day or so later, my mom got a call from LE. They found out that he had used the emergency Master Card my Mom had given him.

He had flown to Honolulu. The police contacted LE over there. Eventually they located him. He was found, bruised and battered, on a mountain trail. No ID, No wallet, no money. No idea how he got there, or why he was beaten up. He was in a local hospital and had not given them his name. He had no prints in the system so they did not know who he was. And he would not tell them anything.

When my older brother arrived, my brother thought it was NOT his actual big brother. He was convinced it was the CIA, trying to trick him into going with them. It was very sad. They had to drug him heavily for him to be convinced by his older brother, who he was always very close to, to come home with him.

So the story in this thread seems kind of familiar to me.

How many of those facts have been verified by others besides Lars? Do we know there was really a fight?

Do we know if any doctors really did ask him to sign papers because he might die if he flew?

Do we know there was really a perforated ear drum? And if so, do we know if he might have accidentally harmed himself?

My brother used to get very frustrated by the voices in his head. He tried many odd ways to get it to stop. He once had earmuffs on with tin foil around them, hoping to stop the voices from getting into his head.

My brother had been looking for his birth certificate, I found out later, because he was no longer believing he was really born into our family. he thought we were all CIA and trying to get into his mind and turn him into a robot.

 

[adeedra]

About the term "construction worker" - it was not a construction worker, this was translated wrongly. In German news clips the word "Bodenpersonal" was used, ground staff, essentially someone who works at an airport but does not fly, meaning, NOT pilots or flight attendants, but anybody else who works at the airport and for the airport or an airline, which could be maintenance workers, dispatchers, cleaning crews, security staff, and what have you.

It is assumption or was that confirmed somewhere?
I also noticed that in different sources they are reffering to him as "airport worker" or "construction worker", it could be wrong translation but it also could be some kind of clarification.
Some people from ground staff at the airport could be dressed and worked as "construction workers".

Or maybe I'm just thinking too much about it at this point. I definitely am but I can't let it go at this point.

I have two questions adeedra:

"Lars told his mother that his cards are cancelled and asked her to try to unblock it. She did, but she failed."

In the video I summarized a few days ago, his mom says he called her at 11.50pm and asked her to cancel the credit card because he had just paid with it at the hotel and felt something was not right. Did you see it reported differently?

I don't hear anything about him asking his mother to cancel his credit card at 11.50pm.
In "Lars Mittank: Escape and panic in Bulgaria" there is
10:50pm noted as the time when he arrives to "Color" and they are mentioning that he was "besorgt sich das medikament und lasst sich in ein hotel gefahren"

11:50pm:
Sandra Mittank: Erstmal habe ich mit ihm telefoniert als er im hotel "Color" nacht du
Lars: "Mama, du hast mir bitte einen gefallen tun mich, Ich habe gerade im hotel eingescheckt das ist ganz komisch (?). Ich habe bezahlt und eine kreditkarten."
Sandra Mittank: Und sagte su mir irgendwas stimmit hier mit dem hotel nicht und muss hier wieder raus aber. Ich versuchte ihn zu beruhigen hier stimmt was nicht.
Lars: "Ich kann mir das nicht sagen ich weiss nicht ich muss hier weg wurde"
Comment: Lars tatsachlich verfolgt fest steht dass er mitten in der nacht.

Please correct me if there are any mistakes, that's just what appears in subtitles, I'm not sure about few words, but I'll not try to guess what they are saying.

Sandra Mittank later says that he called her 8 or 9 times between 2am and 3am but I can't find where it was told that he asked her to cancel his credit cards.
Can you tell at what point of that video you found that information?

It apperas frequently but only in short articles, copied one from another and containing more inaccuracies.
I wrote that based on "Дневник" - once more.
They were covering this case from the beginning, they were talking to Sandra Mittank and these seem to be more believeable that bunch of these sources which appear more like entertainment than legit news/information source.

 

[Elainera]

Regarding the warning of death when flying, I can see three ways this could have made it into the Bulgarian article quoted above by adeedra:

- as adeedra said, someone might have misread or misheard the English word 'deaf' for 'death'
- someone might have misheard or misread the German word 'taub' (deaf) for 'tot' (death)
- the airport doctor might have a form that for legal reasons simply covers anything and everything that could happen when a person insists to travel against doctor's advice that they ask people to sign no matter what the actual physical condition is.

 

[adeedra]

How many of those facts have been verified by others besides Lars? Do we know there was really a fight?

We do know that his friends were able to "lost" him and didn't noticed where he went and what happened as they were ordering something in that McDonald's on the beach.

There was almost certainly less noise and less crowded than at the "Rock bar" full of footbal fans during quaterfinals of World cup. With play-off and with penalty kicks. People has to be insanely loud, nervous and excited about that.
I saw how it looks like, especially at places full of tourists, I bet that at least half of people there would miss a rain of elephants around them during that match.

Do we know if any doctors really did ask him to sign papers because he might die if he flew?

We don't know if that first guy at wellness clinic at Hilton hotel was even a doctor. He didn't made him to sign anything, he recognized what kind of injury it is, advised him to visit specialist and told him that most likely he can fly safely (and most likely he was wrong).
It happened at the airport doc's office so Lars didn't have any chance to talk about this to anyone.

Do we know there was really a perforated ear drum? And if so, do we know if he might have accidentally harmed himself?

Yes, we know that. He had perforated ear drum. Three doctors confirmed that.

 

[Elainera]

How many of those facts have been verified by others besides Lars? Do we know there was really a fight?

Do we know if any doctors really did ask him to sign papers because he might die if he flew?

Do we know there was really a perforated ear drum? And if so, do we know if he might have accidentally harmed himself?

Katy, thank you for sharing your brother's story! This is very scary and sad to read. I hope your brother is doing well nowadays!

Regarding your questions
- no we don't know if there really was a fight. No official verification or witness accounts have been reported.
- I don't remember hearing in the interviews of the airport doctor that he said Lars was asked to sign papers. I might have missed it though, maybe adeedra can remember more accurately.
- the perforated eardrum was diagnosed by three different doctors (GP to whom Lars went first, ENT doctor in the hospital who suggested surgery and prescribed the antibiotic, and airport doctor), so I would take that part as fact.


Regarding the alleged fight, what I find most odd about the story is that is has not been reported that Lars had any visible signs of a fight on him at all such as swelling and redness of the outside ear and area around it, a black eye or other bruises and scratches, dirty, torn clothes etc. I mean, he said there were Russians or Bulgarians (plural) who were paid to beat him up. I have a hard time believing that those paid ****s would then just walk up to him, deliver one punch so hard and so precise that it injures his inner ear only - and then walk away. It does not make sense. I think this is why his friends were doubtful, or at least baffled as well.

Is it even possible to hit someone so hard and precise on the ear that the ear canal distorts in such a way that only the ear drum suffers a tear while surrounding areas have no visible signs of the attack? I really doubt it. How would that even happen? The ear drum is deep inside the ear canal. After such a blow half the side of his face should have been red and swollen.

jmo

 

[Elainera]

It is assumption or was that confirmed somewhere?
I also noticed that in different sources they are reffering to him as "airport worker" or "construction worker", it could be wrong translation but it also could be some kind of clarification.
Some people from ground staff at the airport could be dressed and worked as "construction workers".

Or maybe I'm just thinking too much about it at this point. I definitely am but I can't let it go at this point.

I don't hear anything about him asking his mother to cancel his credit card at 11.50pm.
In "Lars Mittank: Escape and panic in Bulgaria" there is
10:50pm noted as the time when he arrives to "Color" and they are mentioning that he was "besorgt sich das medikament und lasst sich in ein hotel gefahren"

11:50pm:
Sandra Mittank: Erstmal habe ich mit ihm telefoniert als er im hotel "Color" nacht du
Lars: "Mama, du hast mir bitte einen gefallen tun mich, Ich habe gerade im hotel eingescheckt das ist ganz komisch (?). Ich habe bezahlt und eine kreditkarten."
Sandra Mittank: Und sagte su mir irgendwas stimmit hier mit dem hotel nicht und muss hier wieder raus aber. Ich versuchte ihn zu beruhigen hier stimmt was nicht.
Lars: "Ich kann mir das nicht sagen ich weiss nicht ich muss hier weg wurde"
Comment: Lars tatsachlich verfolgt fest steht dass er mitten in der nacht.

Please correct me if there are any mistakes, that's just what appears in subtitles, I'm not sure about few words, but I'll not try to guess what they are saying.

Sandra Mittank later says that he called her 8 or 9 times between 2am and 3am but I can't find where it was told that he asked her to cancel his credit cards.
Can you tell at what point of that video you found that information?

It apperas frequently but only in short articles, copied one from another and containing more inaccuracies.
I wrote that based on "Дневник" - once more.
They were covering this case from the beginning, they were talking to Sandra Mittank and these seem to be more believeable that bunch of these sources which appear more like entertainment than legit news/information source.

Thank you. I'm very sure I heard that Lars asked his mom to cancel his card. I will go back to the video later and let you know where exactly I heard it.

Like I said in my post above, I believe the word "death" was likely included in a pre-printed, cover-all-bases form that they ask anybody to sign who wants to fly against doctor's recommendation, no matter what the actual disease/injury.

 

[adeedra]

I'm more and more ashamed that I was doing any kind of guesses and presumptions reaching only the tip of that mountain.

And this case scares me to the bone.
As someone wrote here, on websleuths about another case - people are willing to believe in everything else before they believe a victim.

These things which I'm reading about him now in comments to articles about him. They call him druggy, alcoholic, insane and worse. He was labeled this way since he disappeared and people still see him in the same way, even if they are trying to be respectable on reddit.

Is this really justified to suspect that his schizophrenia suddenly appear?
Because he was scared by something or someone after he was attacked, beaten, hurt, told that he need a surgery, told that he can't fly home, left alone and driven to some hotel in Bulgarian slums at 7th of July 2014 between 1:00pm and 6:00pm?

How many people would end up with the same label in these circumstances?

Regarding the alleged fight, what I find most odd about the story is that is has not been reported that Lars had any visible signs of a fight on him at all such as swelling and redness of the outside ear and area around it, a black eye or other bruises and scratches, dirty, torn clothes etc. I mean, he said there were Russians or Bulgarians (plural) who were paid to beat him up.

It wasn't reported that he didn't have any visible signs of a fight.
Sources are pretty consistent that Lars told his friends that guys from bar hired some local/Russian guys to beat him up.
Which means that they at least tried, not that they succeed. He was athletic, strong and able to fight back or/and run away. It could be just one hard punch on their side.

I have a hard time believing that those paid ****s would then just walk up to him, deliver one punch so hard and so precise that it injures his inner ear only - and then walk away. It does not make sense. I think this is why his friends were doubtful, or at least baffled as well.

I don't believe that could look so formal.

I think that could be more of a excuse than disbelief on his friends side.
Apparently they didn't think about that event much and they left Bulgaria convinced that he has some kind of minor injury and that he will be safe - the next day Lars disappeared and it looks much more better as they say that they doubted in his story than if they would admit that they ignored it and weren't thinking much about it.

Is it even possible to hit someone so hard and precise on the ear that the ear canal distorts in such a way that only the ear drum suffers a tear while surrounding areas have no visible signs of the attack? I really doubt it. How would that even happen? The ear drum is deep inside the ear canal. After such a blow half the side of his face should have been red and swollen.

Victims of home abuse would say than it is.

 

[Elainera]

I'm not sure now which one it was. Possibly this one? Thank you, please tell us what they're saying! :seeya:

[video=youtube;yoDfn4Mvilo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoDfn4Mvilo&t=9s[/video]

adeedra, about the credit card, I heard it in this video.

Unfortunately my Internet connection is not able to handle it today. The quote is somewhere in the middle of the video. If you want you can try if you find it, otherwise I will try again later.

 

[mpnola]

I was asked to sign a disclaimer that I could die when they pulled a tooth the other day. lol. It is probably just standard operating procedures to not be sued (although I am sure USA has more issues of that than other countries, I don't know).

I was thinking the same thing about the fight. If there were multiple people, there should have been a whole lot of evidence of a fight- I don't think ti would have been questioned for a second. Blood, torn shirt, busted mouth, bruised sides--- something! Especially if many of them were paid! You don't pay 2 groups of people and only one hit to an ear is thrown. I think that is what made his friends suspicious.

I think the friends likely hold a whole lot of answers. It sounds like they were good and concerned friends, going with him to the doctor, offering to stay behind with his to fly later, noticing his eating habits. I can bet they feel extreme guilt, but they had no way of knowing and did better than most 20 year old guys would do!

Thanks for coming, katy. I knew your story would help give a family insight to what sudden onset of mental illness looks like. As she said, that is the kicker- there is often no history of mental health issues. It is so hard and sad for everyone involved.

I am not discounting any theory. It just seems mental health seems to fit the most, for me. Otherwise, there are way too many things to try to explain away with some other really weird explanation.

 

[Elainera]

I'm more and more ashamed that I was doing any kind of guesses and presumptions reaching only the tip of that mountain.

And this case scares me to the bone.
As someone wrote here, on websleuths about another case - people are willing to believe in everything else before they believe a victim.

These things which I'm reading about him now in comments to articles about him. They call him druggy, alcoholic, insane and worse. He was labeled this way since he disappeared and people still see him in the same way, even if they are trying to be respectable on reddit.

Is this really justified to suspect that his schizophrenia suddenly appear?
Because he was scared by something or someone after he was attacked, beaten, hurt, told that he need a surgery, told that he can't fly home, left alone and driven to some hotel in Bulgarian slums at 7th of July 2014 between 1:00pm and 6:00pm?

How many people would end up with the same label in these circumstances?


It wasn't reported that he didn't have any visible signs of a fight.
Sources are pretty consistent that Lars told his friends that guys from bar hired some local/Russian guys to beat him up.
Which means that they at least tried, not that they succeed. He was athletic, strong and able to fight back or/and run away. It could be just one hard punch on their side.

I don't believe that could look so formal.

I think that could be more of a excuse than disbelief on his friends side.
Apparently they didn't think about that event much and they left Bulgaria convinced that he has some kind of minor injury and that he will be safe - the next day Lars disappeared and it looks much more better as they say that they doubted in his story than if they would admit that they ignored it and weren't thinking much about it.

Victims of home abuse would say than it is.

bbm - But don't forget that the family themselves sent out an email to various TV news stations and newspapers which said that he might have a mental illness. I linked to a post with the emails (sent out in various languages to different countries) a couple of pages back. If the family comes out saying publicly that mental illness might be the reason for his disappearance I don't think it's unjustified if we do so as well and explore the implications of this theory. (Of course, you will always get idiots commenting under news articles in a rude way.) I find it very courageous that the family made this statement and I don't think they had made it if the detective and the PI had told them that definitely a crime occurred. In fact this statement indicates to me that they have good reason to believe mental illness played a part because you don't say something like that publicly lightly.

 

[mpnola]

For the record, I ALWAYS believe victims. But, sometimes, the victim needs a different kind of help than they think. Like when my child tells me there is a monster in his closet. I believe him- I believe that he is scared and heard something- I believe he needs comfort and reassurance, and will receive that- I believe that I need to check his closet to be sure nothing is in there. But, I have not ever had to fight an actual monster, yet. Sometimes, his perception and reality do not match up perfectly, but his fear is still addressed and legitimate. Addressing a need rather than the details should not make the cry for help or need for help any less. Does that make sense?

Goodness. I had to stop reading comments on news articles. It scares me too much that humans like that exist. I don't care what the article is about, there is shocking hate expressed! It actually makes me scared to think how many people like that exist, so I had to stop reading them. I don't think it is a reflection of the way most people think about, Lars, though. He is important and needs help to be found. That is certain.

I thought this was interesting:
Where are the People with Schizophrenia?

Approximately:

6% are homeless or live in shelters
6% live in jails or prisons
5% to 6% live in Hospitals
10% live in Nursing homes
25% live with a family member
28% are living independently
20% live in Supervised Housing (group homes, etc.)
(Source: Surviving Schizophrenia)

Homelessness and Schizophrenia

Approximately 200,000 individuals with schizophrenia or manic-depressive illness are homeless, constituting one-third of the approximately 600,000 homeless population (total homeless population statistic based on data from Department of Health and Human Services). These 200,000 individuals comprise more than the entire population of many U.S. cities, such as Hartford, Connecticut; Charleston, South Carolina; Reno, Nevada; Boise, Idaho; Scottsdale, Arizona; Orlando, Florida; Winston Salem, North Carolina; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Abilene, Texas or Topeka, Kansas.
At any given time, there are more people with untreated severe psychiatric illnesses living on America’s streets than are receiving care in hospitals. Approximately 90,000 individuals with schizophrenia or manic-depressive illness are in hospitals receiving treatment for their disease.

Therefore, the approximate number of people in the United States suffering from:

Schizophrenia: Over 2.2 million people
Multiple Sclerosis: 400,000 people
Insulin-dependent Diabetes: 350,000 people
Muscular Dystrophy: 35,000 people

http://schizophrenia.com/szfacts.htm

 

[adeedra]

I was thinking the same thing about the fight. If there were multiple people, there should have been a whole lot of evidence of a fight- I don't think ti would have been questioned for a second. Blood, torn shirt, busted mouth, bruised sides--- something! Especially if many of them were paid! You don't pay 2 groups of people and only one hit to an ear is thrown. I think that is what made his friends suspicious.

Whole lot of evidence of a fight which happened at the beach, behind McDonalds, late at night? How many people would you expect there at this time? And multiple people? FOUR of his friends were 20metres away from him and didn't saw a thing and later he was nowhere to be seen - althought is unknow how long they were waiting in line and choosing what to eat.

I noticed that my previous link with McDonald's view from the beach was broken.
20 metres from front of McDonalds could be where the red mark is.

And from the opposite side look:
That pink wall is a back side of that boat on the right, visible on the second picture:

https://www.google.pl/maps/place/Va...1a58b7c!8m2!3d43.2140504!4d27.9147333!6m1!1e1

https://www.google.pl/maps/@43.2892...g4N3WhGhPr_OF2fCMA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

What 2 groups of people? Where did you find it?
And how did you came with "many of them"? We know for sure that Lars told that he had some kind of argue (not fight - argue) at "Rock bar" with four "Bayern" fans, and that they payd to some Russian or Bulgarian guys to beat him up - so at least two guys, attacked him, nothing suggested that was some large group, neither that "Bayern" fans were trying to/attacking him as well, just that they payed some other guys to do so.

 

[dotr]

Thanks to everyone for all the amazing, interesting and detailed posts!!
Would it be best if it is assumed, that for reasons real or imagined, that Lars is in a highly vulnerable state, physically and mentally and is lost in a foreign country?

Wondering if all his belongings like his luggage and documents have been returned to his mother?

 

[Elainera]

@adeedra, I think mpnola meant "visible signs" on him, on his body.

mpnola: "Blood, torn shirt, busted mouth, bruised sides--- something!"

 

[Elainera]

Thanks to everyone for all the amazing, interesting and detailed posts!!
Would it be best if it is assumed, that for reasons real or imagined, that Lars is in a highly vulnerable state, physically and mentally and is lost in a foreign country?

Wondering if all his belongings like his luggage and documents have been returned to his mother?

I have wondered that too. After two and a half years I would think they have been returned by now, but who knows.

Surely they must have gone through the luggage with a fine toothcomb immediately, since this was technically luggage left unattended at an airport and a possible security threat. Later, I would think, that Bulgarian LE, German LE, the PI, and the family all had a look at the items to try to determine if he took anything with him. And surely I would assume they went through his phone to see if he made any phone calls other than to his mother.

 

[neesaki]

I don't know where to start. So many things spring to mind for me, because of my own life experience, watching my little brother having the sudden onset of bi-polar syndrome. At the time, in the late 70's, he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. His 'meltdown' happened over 3 weeks or so, and it was very similar to what is being described in this case.

First, here are a few things I want to point out, in response to Adreeda's well thought out post, above.

She said:

Few more things which I didn't realise before I started digging and jumped into bandwagon of "mental breakdown"...

Of course, some kind of drug could be involved, as well as actual mental breakdown - it's possible but are odds really pointing into that?

I didn't found any source quotting Sandra Mittank saying that she believes that some mental illnes suddenly appear, she's frequently saying that she believes in that possibility.
But first thing is that people and media are extremely willing to explain any weird event that way, especially if case seems complicated, second - choosing that way is relatively "safe" option as there is no blame pushed into any direction (in this case hotel staff, city of Varna - why there is no footage of Lars from July 7th? "Golden sands" is a very expansive section of Varna, it has to be plenty of cameras, at least at hotels and some on the streets I think, police, doctor) all guilt is put on "mental illness" and people could be more willing to help, third - Lars has no history of mental illness in his family and he never acted strangely before.

Woman from taxi told that had dilated pupils at that time.
There is no information if she was driving to the airport as well, payed for both of them or got out earlier (at least I can't find it).
Dilated pupils could point at drugs but according to the timeline as he catched that ride he spend few hours hiding somewhere in the dark - maybe his pupils were dilated as any other person pupils would be in these circumstances and she assumed drugs because as they reached her it was already stated that he acted weird and runned into the woods frantically? Or she was just nervous because of the situation and as he was scared she assumed that he's nervous because of drugs?


As to the bolded above, our family had no previous history of mental illness, and my brother had no previous mental illness type of incidents. he was in his early 20's at the time. And that is why it took a few months for us to actually realize what was happening to him.

Also, dilated pupils are also a symptom of mania or schizophrenia. It may or may not indicate drug usage.

My brother lived in Bear Valley, where he was a professionals racer. DownHill Racer. He had spent the summer in Chile, outside Santiago, training with the US ski team. He was hoping to qualify for the team.

He lived with his girlfriend. My parents lived a few hours away in the Bay Area.

He called my mom a few times, and sounded strange. he asked her in hushed tones, if anyone had come to her home, looking for him. She said NO, and he said, if they do, don't tell them where I am and don't answer any questions. Then he'd hang up, and not answer her return calls.

There were no cell phones back then, so it was hard to reach him. I tried to call him at his girlfriends, finally reached her and she was confused by him as well. She thought he was hiding something from her, like a new girlfriend, and was upset with him. They had dated since high school, so she knew him well. But even she misread what was really going on with him at the time.

One night he arrived at our parents home, very late. My Mom woke up and found him looking through things in the garage. He had boxes stored there snd said he needed his birth certificate. But he wouldn't say why. But he seemed very desperate to find it.

The next morning I flew up North to talk to him because my Mom was really concerned about him. He would not answer any of her questions and seemed very nervous. She asked me to try and find out what was going on with him.

He took me into the very back part of our yard, and told me a scary but believable story. he said his gf's ex boyfriend was after him. He had been jumped by him and his friends a week earlier, and they threatened to harm him and his family. He said he couldn't tell me anymore for my own safety. But that they were crazy dangerous and he needed to lay low for awhile.

I thought he was speaking the truth. But I also wondered if he had maybe gotten involved with some coke dealers. A lot of ski racers lived the high life back then. So I thought that might be what was up.

The whole thing would take too long to describe, but it devolved into a story very similar to what has been described in the above timeline. He would not drive his own car because he thought it was 'bugged.' So he had me driving him around. And he would be seeing things out of the corner of his eyes, thinking the school crossing guard was watching him, or the lady standing behind us in the store, was following us. And I began to realize that he was either really high, or he was having a mental breakdown.

He went missing the next day. We had no idea where he went because he left a note saying he was going back to Bear Valley. But I knew he wasn't because that is where he said his 'enemies' were. But my Mom wanted to believe that is where he went.

I flew back home. My brother drove up to the mountains and looked all over for him. No one had seen him. So he went to the local Police department and reported him missing. A day or so later, my mom got a call from LE. They found out that he had used the emergency Master Card my Mom had given him.

He had flown to Honolulu. The police contacted LE over there. Eventually they located him. He was found, bruised and battered, on a mountain trail. No ID, No wallet, no money. No idea how he got there, or why he was beaten up. He was in a local hospital and had not given them his name. He had no prints in the system so they did not know who he was. And he would not tell them anything.

When my older brother arrived, my brother thought it was NOT his actual big brother. He was convinced it was the CIA, trying to trick him into going with them. It was very sad. They had to drug him heavily for him to be convinced by his older brother, who he was always very close to, to come home with him.

So the story in this thread seems kind of familiar to me.

How many of those facts have been verified by others besides Lars? Do we know there was really a fight?

Do we know if any doctors really did ask him to sign papers because he might die if he flew?

Do we know there was really a perforated ear drum? And if so, do we know if he might have accidentally harmed himself?

My brother used to get very frustrated by the voices in his head. He tried many odd ways to get it to stop. He once had earmuffs on with tin foil around them, hoping to stop the voices from getting into his head.

My brother had been looking for his birth certificate, I found out later, because he was no longer believing he was really born into our family. he thought we were all CIA and trying to get into his mind and turn him into a robot.

That's really something, and sounds so much like the symptoms Lars reportedly was having! The possibility of bi-polar came to my mind the other day but I for some reason dismissed it. I hope your brother is doing well today. :hug:

Katy, thank you for sharing your brother's story! This is very scary and sad to read. I hope your brother is doing well nowadays!

Regarding your questions
- no we don't know if there really was a fight. No official verification or witness accounts have been reported.
- I don't remember hearing in the interviews of the airport doctor that he said Lars was asked to sign papers. I might have missed it though, maybe adeedra can remember more accurately.
- the perforated eardrum was diagnosed by three different doctors (GP to whom Lars went first, ENT doctor in the hospital who suggested surgery and prescribed the antibiotic, and airport doctor), so I would take that part as fact.


Regarding the alleged fight, what I find most odd about the story is that is has not been reported that Lars had any visible signs of a fight on him at all such as swelling and redness of the outside ear and area around it, a black eye or other bruises and scratches, dirty, torn clothes etc. I mean, he said there were Russians or Bulgarians (plural) who were paid to beat him up. I have a hard time believing that those paid ****s would then just walk up to him, deliver one punch so hard and so precise that it injures his inner ear only - and then walk away. It does not make sense. I think this is why his friends were doubtful, or at least baffled as well.

Is it even possible to hit someone so hard and precise on the ear that the ear canal distorts in such a way that only the ear drum suffers a tear while surrounding areas have no visible signs of the attack? I really doubt it. How would that even happen? The ear drum is deep inside the ear canal. After such a blow half the side of his face should have been red and swollen.

jmo

A friend of my sons perforated his eardrum using a Q-tip. Said he slipped on the floor, he was probably intoxicated, LOL. As you, I wonder if there were any other visible signs of a physical assault or a bash to the side of Lars head. It seems there would have been some bruising, even if minimal.

 

[neesaki]

Here's one example where just one blow to the ear caused a perforated eardrum.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/report-hernandez-ruptured-mans-eardrum-in-2007-wasnt-arrested/

 

[katydid23]

Katy, thank you for sharing your brother's story! This is very scary and sad to read. I hope your brother is doing well nowadays!

Regarding your questions
- no we don't know if there really was a fight. No official verification or witness accounts have been reported.
- I don't remember hearing in the interviews of the airport doctor that he said Lars was asked to sign papers. I might have missed it though, maybe adeedra can remember more accurately.
- the perforated eardrum was diagnosed by three different doctors (GP to whom Lars went first, ENT doctor in the hospital who suggested surgery and prescribed the antibiotic, and airport doctor), so I would take that part as fact.


Regarding the alleged fight, what I find most odd about the story is that is has not been reported that Lars had any visible signs of a fight on him at all such as swelling and redness of the outside ear and area around it, a black eye or other bruises and scratches, dirty, torn clothes etc. I mean, he said there were Russians or Bulgarians (plural) who were paid to beat him up. I have a hard time believing that those paid ****s would then just walk up to him, deliver one punch so hard and so precise that it injures his inner ear only - and then walk away. It does not make sense. I think this is why his friends were doubtful, or at least baffled as well.

Is it even possible to hit someone so hard and precise on the ear that the ear canal distorts in such a way that only the ear drum suffers a tear while surrounding areas have no visible signs of the attack? I really doubt it. How would that even happen? The ear drum is deep inside the ear canal. After such a blow half the side of his face should have been red and swollen.

jmo

I agree with your questions about the ruptured eardrum. So I googled ' causes of ruptured eardrum':


A number of things can cause the eardrum to rupture; one of the most common causes is an ear infection. When the middle ear is infected, pressure builds up and pushes against the eardrum. When the pressure gets too great, it can cause the eardrum to perforate. When that happens, you may suddenly notice that the pain and pressure you've felt from the infection suddenly stops and pus drains from the ear.

Another common cause of a ruptured eardrum is poking the eardrum with a foreign object, such as a cotton-tipped swab or a bobby pin that's being used to clean wax out of the ear canal. Sometimes children can puncture their own eardrum by putting objects such as a stick or a small toy in their ear.

Some ruptured eardrums result from what's known as barotrauma. This happens when the pressure inside the ear and the pressure outside the ear are not equal. That can happen, for example, when an airplane changes altitude, causing the air pressure in the cabin to drop or rise. The change in pressure is also a common problem for scuba divers.

A head injury or an ear slap can cause the eardrum to rupture.So can an acoustic trauma caused by a sudden loud noise, such as an explosion or a sudden blast of loud music.


So it could have been ruptured in any number of ways. Not necessarily from a magic punch.

But then again, even if he was in a fight, that wouldn't necessarily mean he was not also having a mental health crisis. Often, that initiates fights with the public due to misunderstandings etc.

And thank you. My brother had his ups and downs, hospitalized for a few short periods, just to get his meds adjusted correctly. He lived in a halfway house for a long while. Eventually was able to live in his own condo, on his own, with the help of lithium. he could drive and do his own errands, but was still hearing ' nutty voices', as he referred to them. Passed away from lung cancer sadly. He smoked 2 packs a day. :rose:

 

[Elainera]

I agree with your questions about the ruptured eardrum. So I googled ' causes of ruptured eardrum':


A number of things can cause the eardrum to rupture; one of the most common causes is an ear infection. When the middle ear is infected, pressure builds up and pushes against the eardrum. When the pressure gets too great, it can cause the eardrum to perforate. When that happens, you may suddenly notice that the pain and pressure you've felt from the infection suddenly stops and pus drains from the ear.

Another common cause of a ruptured eardrum is poking the eardrum with a foreign object, such as a cotton-tipped swab or a bobby pin that's being used to clean wax out of the ear canal. Sometimes children can puncture their own eardrum by putting objects such as a stick or a small toy in their ear.

Some ruptured eardrums result from what's known as barotrauma. This happens when the pressure inside the ear and the pressure outside the ear are not equal. That can happen, for example, when an airplane changes altitude, causing the air pressure in the cabin to drop or rise. The change in pressure is also a common problem for scuba divers.

A head injury or an ear slap can cause the eardrum to rupture.So can an acoustic trauma caused by a sudden loud noise, such as an explosion or a sudden blast of loud music.


So it could have been ruptured in any number of ways. Not necessarily from a magic punch.

But then again, even if he was in a fight, that wouldn't necessarily mean he was not also having a mental health crisis. Often, that initiates fights with the public due to misunderstandings etc.

And thank you. My brother had his ups and downs, hospitalized for a few short periods, just to get his meds adjusted correctly. He lived in a halfway house for a long while. Eventually was able to live in his own condo, on his own, with the help of lithium. he could drive and do his own errands, but was still hearing ' nutty voices', as he referred to them. Passed away from lung cancer sadly. He smoked 2 packs a day. :rose:

I'm sorry to hear that katy. But he did well and was courageous enough to deal with his disease and live his life, so that is a good thing!

Thank you for the info about ruptured eardrums. I didn't know it can happen so easily. So it could have come from a fight, or not. We might never know!