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

[JanetElaine]

Adeedra, my apologies for 'calling you out', but I wanted to say thank you for all your work, the pictures and everything. Very helpful!

 

[JanetElaine]

Alright, now I watched this very interesting and comprehensive video. This is from 11 months after he went missing. It presents the case more like a story with actors playing the parts of Lars and his friends in Varna. It also tells a bit about his background, he was an only child, very close with his mom, athletic, ambitious, and had a promising job in Wilhelmshaven. His friends describe him as lively, always in good spirits, a devoted soccer fan, sometimes liked to drink, a good friend.

New snippet of info: Lars did not want to eat much during the week vacation in Varna, which surprised his friends because the stay at the hotel was inclusive of food, plus they were planning to party and everyone knows that you should eat well before you drink alcohol.

On July 5 the group was out at night and on the way home his friends popped into a fast food restaurant to grab a quick bite. Lars waited outside, but when they came back out he was nowhere to be seen. However, he was back at the hotel the next morning and told them that other soccer fans, with whom he had had a little bit of a tiff in the bar earlier, had paid some Bulgarian or Russian guys to beat him up. And they did, that's why his eardrum was perforated.

The friends did not know what to make of this story, and neither do I. Why did he not wait in front of the fast food joint for his friends? Did he wander away and those guys grabbed him? How did he get away from them? Why only one punch to the ear? It's a weird story, and I have some doubts. Did he lie to his friends?

On the afternoon before the flight back home Lars complained about pain in his ear and was worried that the flight might damage his hearing. They went to a local doctor (NOT the one at the airport) who told him that he shouldn't fly but rather see a specialist in another clinic.

The friends offered to extend their stay but Lars insisted that they fly back. He went to the clinic with a taxi, and this is the doctor that prescribed the antibiotics after Lars decided he did not want to be operated in Bulgaria. His mother speculates that it stressed him that they did not want to admit him at the hospital after he declined surgery. It was now evening, he was alone, and had to find a place to stay. He then took a taxi and arrived at the Hotel Color.

I guess he must have taken the first dose of antibiotics then.

He called his mom from the hotel at just before midnight and asked her to cancel his credit card because he just paid with the card at the hotel but had a bad feeling about it. He goes on to say that he feels something was wrong in this hotel and that he needed to get away. And so he left in the middle of the night.

Around 3am he called his mom again, he was whispering, saying that four guys were following him and that he was hiding.

Shortly afterwards he sent two text messages to his mom, inquiring what CefC500 is (the antibiotic, I assume). I think he believed that someone had drugged him (that the antibiotic was really something else) and that they were now following him. (imo)

He then caught a taxi and arrived at the airport at dawn.

At 6am he called his mom again saying that he finally arrived at the airport and his mom advised him to see the doctor at the airport. She also booked him a flight. He said to her, "They don't let me fly, they don't let me go". At first she didn't think anything of it but later on she found it odd that he had added that they won't let him go (but she never got to talk to him again to ask him about it). She also found it strange that he said those words before seeing the airport doctor to get another opinion. (I think those words show his fear, jmo.)

Then follows another interview with the airport doctor (the guy must have been interviewed quite a number of times already!) and he tells that Lars was very restless. He indeed told him that he shouldn’t fly. When the airport worker entered Lars got even more nervous and started stuttering and mumbling. They tried to calm him and find out what’s wrong but Lars got up suddenly and ran out leaving all his luggage and phone behind.

Next follows an interview with Marco Klein, the detective in charge of Lars’s case. He says that several witnesses have reported that Lars’s behavior was weird ever since he left the hospital in Varna. He was scared, even panicked.

A pharmacist is then interviewed who confirms that in rare cases this particular antibiotic can lead to behavior such as what Lars exhibited. But she also says that this side effect depends on whether he took another medication simultaneously or drank alcohol.

Sandra, his mother, flew down two weeks after he disappeared and searched for him in hospitals and psychiatric wards.
She says the family believes he is alive and they have strong hope. She says Lars is mentally strong and sees things through.

At the end of the video at 20.02 min they show a map of the airport which shows in red the path Lars ran as shown on the surveillance footage. He ran North/Northwest and jumped over the fence into a sunflower field with 2m (7ft) high plants. A few 100 m further North is the A2 highway that leads to Sofia.

Lastly, they are asking for a witness to contact them. Lars had told his mother that at the airport he had asked a German speaking man for advice about a money transfer from Germany to Varna, possibly the last person who spoke to Lars before he entered the doctor’s office. (The mother had talked to him on the phone about sending him money with Western Union.)

See what happens when I finally catch up with the long posts?? lol I apologize that I reinvented the wheel with my previous post a bit. Also already answered some questions I had. Are you psychic, Elainera?

 

[JanetElaine]

Polish:
https://scontent-waw1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=c1e314827cc95b520b83dfdfaf206f51&oe=59447824
Croatian:
https://scontent-waw1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=b9c172b1232cff4ca1f8dd0e0b328c97&oe=59075862
Slovakian:
https://scontent-waw1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=371ad6a917da546f27a681b2b51e990a&oe=590A6310
Romanian:
https://scontent-waw1-1.xx.fbcdn.ne...=2af511486a3e8349869c55307cf61e4a&oe=58FEA03F

Thank you very much! Hoping to get these done in the next couple of days. I even saw a Turkish semi today... I hope I can talk them into taking some flyers and handing them out/hanging them up along the way back.

 

[dotr]

Glad to see you Janet Elaine, hope you are better now!

The girl angle makes sense to me because other than mental illness causing one to behave in a peculiar way, love/lust could drive a young man ( in this case) crazy!
Did he meet somewhere there, or someone he knew was already there- was it an " illicit " meeting of some sort that might cause him to get slugged? Affected his appetite, either because he would eat with someone else, or had excited, nervous " romantic " energy?
Did he not want his friends to know about it as you suggested, so found excuses to stay behind?
Did he think the worker at the airport Doctor's office was actually an angry husband/boyfriend?
Maybe Lars had nothing of real importance to him in his luggage, ie clothing- tshirts and shorts, no big deal to leave behind.

just speculating, imo.

 

[mpnola]

Off topic, but I just say how impressed I am with y'all that know more than one language? I mean, I am seriously impressed! What a great skill to have! After 2 years of French in High School and 2 more years in college, I now remember how say dog and cat! lol. Sorry for the off topic. But, it is impressive!

And dotr, it made me for real laugh, but you are right! Love and mental health--- the root of lots of odd behavior

 

[Schmatz]

I don't know...
Not feeling the girl thing. I'm sure the friends would have noticed.

Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk

 

[Schmatz]

My personal take is schizophrenia. Very well explained earlier in this thread. Makes the most sense to me.


Gesendet von meinem SM-G920F mit Tapatalk

 

[Elainera]

I could do the translation of the video (will take some time) are there any native German speaking persons on this side?

I'm a native German

What about the eating thing? What stands out for his friends (being together more then normal) was that he ate very little during there vacation. When you are in your private thing (he was living alone I guess) there was nobody to notice this...but a week with friends...it started to show.....what could be the reason...strong young men like to eat...especially after a night drinking, partying....and still he declined....He is not extremely thin....what was going on?

mpnola explained previously that mental illness could be a reason for not eating. Drugs too I suppose, if he was taking something without his friends knowing? Some uppers, to get the most out of his vacation?


Hi Janet! I wrote my answers in red into your post, then I don't have to snip the post into parts!

Thank you, I'm glad to be back. Also glad you brought this video forward, and I finally had the chance to watch it. I realize you can knock me in a different direction with a feather right now... obviously with more information, one's thoughts about something can change. The mental health problems mpnola posted still sound very plausible to me but I do not want to discard any other options that might be just as valid.

Here are some thoughts I wrote down while I was watching the video.

At 3:38 the friend in the video says that during the week they were there some irritations with Bayern fans, but Lars was able to diffuse this verbally.

And then right after that, when the actors are checking out the girl, does the friend say to Lars "don't you have a girlfriend" or does Lars say it to his friend? 'Lars' (actor) does say "it doesn't make a difference, looking is allowed". Did he have a girlfriend? I don't recall if we know this or not? Yes the friend says to Lars "don't you have a girlfriend". So I guess Lars had a gf.

Still typing this along while watching the video. Apparently they did exchange some verbal jabs with other soccer fans the night Lars got hurt, but again, according to the friend, Lars was able to diffuse the situation verbally. By the way, I had not realized that the hit to the ear happened two days before they were supposed to leave, and that it didn't really start hurting until departure day (it got worse to the point that he started worrying).

'Stutzig' seems like 'baffled' in English. In the interview, it sounds a bit like the friend is baffled/stunned about the fact that the Bayern fans would go so far as to 'hire' someone to beat Lars up for them. I didn't get the impression that he necessarily thought Lars' story was strange, but more the fact that someone would do something like that. Although I can definitely see the interpretation both ways. 'Baffled' was the word I was looking for! Thank you! And yes, you could be right, maybe the friend was more baffled about the guys who beat Lars up rather than doubting the whole story.

At 20:38, am I hearing correctly that Lars at the airport met a man from/at a money transfer place? Is that what Lars already told his mom on the phone? Since they're looking for this man as a witness, last one to have been in contact with Lars (I'm assuming before the doctor). He met a German speaking man who he asked for advice regarding sending money to Varna from Germany.

One thing that bothers me after seeing the video is a seeming discrepancy - Lars did not want to get surgery in Varna, yet he did expect to be admitted to the hospital. That does not make a lot of sense to me. His mom was also wondering why Lars said they would not let him drive/ride. She said she expected the dr to say no to flying, but did not understand why Lars also said he wasn't allowed to drive (fahren). I also noticed the discrepancy. I guess he kind of hoped to be able to stay at the hospital and get treatment (other than surgery) rather than having to stay in a hotel? Idk. Regarding the word 'fahren'. I think in this context it it used in a more general way and doesn't mean 'drive' literally but simply 'go' or 'leave'. Like in English you would say "I'll go to the Bahamas on vacation" but that doesn't mean that you'll walk there. Does that make sense?

Could Lars possibly have exaggerated the ear pain to gain himself an extra few days in Varna, all by himself without his friends, maybe with a vacation fling? While his friends went to eat, had Lars maybe snuck off in the meantime to meet up with someone, possibly having meals with them (her)? Maybe he knew he wasn't going to be admitted to the hospital and had plans to be with his vacation love, and checked into the hotel to keep up appearances - but called his mom straight away to cancel the credit card (possible before the charge went through) because he had no intention to stay there to begin with?

Idk how much I believe this though. He'd have to have made up the whole fear thing to his mom (possible, if he had a girlfriend back home and didn't want her to suspect anything?)... plus it doesn't explain why he'd leave the airport without all his belongings. I doubt he'd have left cell phone, passport etc. behind for a few extra days with some girl. But... at all possible? Interesting new theory! But I think it's unlikely. Yes, possibly he had a fling and wanted a few extra days or weeks, but more than two years without calling his parents ever? I doubt it.

Glad to see you Janet Elaine, hope you are better now!

The girl angle makes sense to me because other than mental illness causing one to behave in a peculiar way, love/lust could drive a young man ( in this case) crazy!
Did he meet somewhere there, or someone he knew was already there- was it an " illicit " meeting of some sort that might cause him to get slugged? Affected his appetite, either because he would eat with someone else, or had excited, nervous " romantic " energy?
Did he not want his friends to know about it as you suggested, so found excuses to stay behind?
Did he think the worker at the airport Doctor's office was actually an angry husband/boyfriend?
Maybe Lars had nothing of real importance to him in his luggage, ie clothing- tshirts and shorts, no big deal to leave behind.

just speculating, imo.

bbm - he left his passport behind though.

Off topic, but I just say how impressed I am with y'all that know more than one language? I mean, I am seriously impressed! What a great skill to have! After 2 years of French in High School and 2 more years in college, I now remember how say dog and cat! lol. Sorry for the off topic. But, it is impressive!

And dotr, it made me for real laugh, but you are right! Love and mental health--- the root of lots of odd behavior

Hi mpnola, I'm German and lived in the UK for years. That's why I speak both languages. But I have to add, most Germans speak English, we learn it in school, starting at 10 years old.

 

[Jason_Pharae]

This German article is from 2015 after Aktenzeichen XY Ungelöst (long running German TV show featuring unsolved crimes and disappearances) featured the case.

I translated the last paragraph

.
http://www.apotheke-adhoc.de/nachri...nach-einnahme-von-cefcil-cefprozil/?tx_ttnews[sViewPointer]=1&cHash=250b0ea3efb40aeb7ce2f3f2ad6b862e

This is hard to understand--are you sure they didn't say the behavior could not be explained by the antibiotic? Why would they say it could be explained by antibiotics, the symptoms are conspicuous, and them immediately say the symptoms indicate schizophrenic psychosis? Those are two totally distinct diagnoses.

 

[neesaki]

What about the eating thing? What stands out for his friends (being together more then normal) was that he ate very little during there vacation. When you are in your private thing (he was living alone I guess) there was nobody to notice this...but a week with friends...it started to show.....what could be the reason...strong young men like to eat...especially after a night drinking, partying....and still he declined....He is not extremely thin....what was going on?

I was thinking about this earlier today, wasn't Lars living away from home and working in another town than his parents? So his parents may not have been aware of any changes in his personality, any issues, etc. Although his friends made note of him not wanting to eat much. That's kind of strange, unless they hadn't recently spent much time with him due to work or school or whatever they were doing. That does seem to be something to take not of though, his lack of appetite. Healthy young men like to eat.

 

[neesaki]

I'm a native German




mpnola explained previously that mental illness could be a reason for not eating. Drugs too I suppose, if he was taking something without his friends knowing? Some uppers, to get the most out of his vacation?


Hi Janet! I wrote my answers in red into your post, then I don't have to snip the post into parts!






bbm - he left his passport behind though.




Hi mpnola, I'm German and lived in the UK for years. That's why I speak both languages. But I have to add, most Germans speak English, we learn it in school, starting at 10 years old.

That's so awesome. I wish I had learned German when I was younger, I remember my Grandpa speaking it to me all the time, but I never learned it.

 

[neesaki]

This is hard to understand--are you sure they didn't say the behavior could not be explained by the antibiotic? Why would they say it could be explained by antibiotics, the symptoms are conspicuous, and them immediately say the symptoms indicate schizophrenic psychosis? Those are two totally distinct diagnoses.

I was confused by that as well. Perhaps they're saying it could be the antibiotics contributed to the surfacing of Schizophrenia ? Then there were other stressors such as traveling away from home, and the altercation with the soccer team, the ruptured eardrum, alcohol, possibly drugs, etc. If this is the case, there were most likely other stressors in his life at home before he ever went on this vacation, that contributed to this. Maybe it was a snowball type of effect. If Schizophrenia or Bipolar, I'm quite sure he was exhibiting some sort of symptoms before the trip, but he was able to hide them or no one took notice. Idk, but maybe it goes back to the diasthesis-stress syndrome that I posted on earlier.

http://www.schizophrenic.com/articles/schizophrenia/diathesis-stress-theory

 

[Elainera]

This is hard to understand--are you sure they didn't say the behavior could not be explained by the antibiotic? Why would they say it could be explained by antibiotics, the symptoms are conspicuous, and them immediately say the symptoms indicate schizophrenic psychosis? Those are two totally distinct diagnoses.

Yes I'm sure. The whole article is mainly about that his behaviour could have been a side effect of the antibiotic. I took the paragraph I translated to mean that the antibiotic could have triggered the conspicuous behaviour in form of a schizophrenic psychosis.

 

[Elainera]

I was thinking about this earlier today, wasn't Lars living away from home and working in another town than his parents? So his parents may not have been aware of any changes in his personality, any issues, etc. Although his friends made note of him not wanting to eat much. That's kind of strange, unless they hadn't recently spent much time with him due to work or school or whatever they were doing. That does seem to be something to take not of though, his lack of appetite. Healthy young men like to eat.

Actually in one video his mom is saying that because her husband had had a stroke a few years prior, Lars would come round often to help around the house because his father couldn't so much anymore. So I think they were quite close.

It seems to me the not-eating-well started in Varna.

 

[Elainera]

On the Findet Lars fb page someone has thrown in the theory (in the comments) that Lars possibly was "gang stalked" and therefore panicked and paranoid. Possibly recognized the guy who walked into the doctor's office as one of the gang who was stalking him. The gang wanted him for the illegal organ donor market. What do you all think of that? I feel "stutzig" (= Huh?). Never heard the term "gang stalked" before.

 

[Bit of hope]

I'm a native German



mpnola explained previously that mental illness could be a reason for not eating. Drugs too I suppose, if he was taking something without his friends knowing? Some uppers, to get the most out of his vacation?


Hi Janet! I wrote my answers in red into your post, then I don't have to snip the post into parts!






bbm - he left his passport behind though.




Hi mpnola, I'm German and lived in the UK for years. That's why I speak both languages. But I have to add, most Germans speak English, we learn it in school, starting at 10 years old.

Thank you for translating so far. My native language is Dutch and my German is quite good, but someone who speaks native German could do a much better job.

Isn't it strange that if he had a girlfriend they didn't had any contact during his vacation? Even when is didn't feel ok? (Maybe there was contact with a girlfriend, but she didn't want to get involved in the media circus) Who would you call in what kind of situation? For money things possibly mom...being afraid for some guys?... mom? Not feeling ok? ... I don't know. When you are 28 wouldn't you call your girlfriend if you had one instead of your mother? You get my point I guess. Just pondering.... Of course I could answer all my one questions from my perspective but I'm just curious what you all think in relation to a possible girlfriend.

 

[Elainera]

Thank you for translating so far. My native language is Dutch and my German is quite good, but someone who speaks native German could do a much better job.

Isn't it strange that if he had a girlfriend they didn't had any contact during his vacation? Even when is didn't feel ok? (Maybe there was contact with a girlfriend, but she didn't want to get involved in the media circus) Who would you call in what kind of situation? For money things possibly mom...being afraid for some guys?... mom? Not feeling ok? ... I don't know. When you are 28 wouldn't you call your girlfriend if you had one instead of your mother? You get my point I guess. Just pondering.... Of course I could answer all my one questions from my perspective but I'm just curious what you all think in relation to a possible girlfriend.

I think it depends. How long were they together? If they had met only recently maybe he didn't feel comfortable to share his fear and panic with her. Or, maybe he did try to call her that night but she was already sleeping and didn't pick up. Or, his main concern was at first to cancel the credit card, so he called mom.

I kind of assumed they were not in a long standing relationship because the girlfriend has not been featured in any videos and interviews. Just my assumption. Also, his mom said in an interview they were very close because he was an only child.

Nevertheless, I do wonder what she (gf) believes what happened.

 

[katydid23]

I think the disorganized and odd behavior seemed to start BEFORE he took the unit-biotics-- is that correct?

 

[JanetElaine]

I think the disorganized and odd behavior seemed to start BEFORE he took the unit-biotics-- is that correct?

I think so. His friends said he'd been behaving oddly all week.

 

[JanetElaine]

On the Findet Lars fb page someone has thrown in the theory (in the comments) that Lars possibly was "gang stalked" and therefore panicked and paranoid. Possibly recognized the guy who walked into the doctor's office as one of the gang who was stalking him. The gang wanted him for the illegal organ donor market. What do you all think of that? I feel "stutzig" (= Huh?). Never heard the term "gang stalked" before.

I still do find it rather odd that someone just walked into a drs office where he was busy seeing a patient. That person must have known the dr and the dr him - I wish we knew more about him.