Found Deceased Germany - Liam Colgan, 29, Scottish tourist, Hamburg, 10 Feb 2018

[Taskforce88]

I don't find the head injury theory believable. I mean, I'm no doctor but a head injury that leads to severe confusion, enough that you forget who you are and where you are but are still somehow able to find food and shelter from the cold and have no life threatening further symptoms, seems far fetched. Wouldn't there be other symptoms that would need treatment or they'd get worse?

Indeed, but maybe they did get progressively worse and he has yet to be found

 

[DakotaMayi]

I don't find the head injury theory believable. I mean, I'm no doctor but a head injury that leads to severe confusion, enough that you forget who you are and where you are but are still somehow able to find food and shelter from the cold and have no life threatening further symptoms, seems far fetched. Wouldn't there be other symptoms that would need treatment or they'd get worse?

I think it's possible a head injury could be the answer here but, and I know I keep going back to Lars, but on Lars' thread, someone said " at the blink of eye mental illness can switch and take on many forms in many different ways,".I feel like that is more likely in Liam's case. Especially since no one he was with witnessed him hitting his head.

I think mental illness can be "triggered" by alcohol too. Manic episodes and such.

 

[Taskforce88]

I think it's possible a head injury could be the answer here but, and I know I keep going back to Lars, but on Lars' thread, someone said " at the blink of eye mental illness can switch and take on many forms in many different ways,".I feel like that is more likely in Liam's case. Especially since no one he was with witnessed him hitting his head.

I think mental illness can be "triggered" by alcohol too. Manic episodes and such.

Certainly, it can trigger an episode yep, and it was one of the theories on the Corrie MacKeague thread.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I don't find the head injury theory believable. I mean, I'm no doctor but a head injury that leads to severe confusion, enough that you forget who you are and where you are but are still somehow able to find food and shelter from the cold and have no life threatening further symptoms, seems far fetched. Wouldn't there be other symptoms that would need treatment or they'd get worse?

Agree. In the absence of info, we tend to grasp at any theory.
My amateur opinion is that he is voluntarily missing (my vote #1), or has expired in the river. I certainly hope it is the former choice, and that he will reappear soon.

As far as the police, I'm giving them a hall pass. First, they knew the brother is one of The Blue. That alone leads me to think they would go above and beyond. However, you have all pointed out that Liam went missing in "party town", so the police probably thought he was just "occupied" with some new friend.

It's funny how we latch on to, and become fascinated with some cases. This is one of them. I feel as if Liam is a lost Cousin, and we are all praying he finds his way back home. Continued prayers for his loved ones who must be out of their minds.

Come home Liam!

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I don't find the head injury theory believable. I mean, I'm no doctor but a head injury that leads to severe confusion, enough that you forget who you are and where you are but are still somehow able to find food and shelter from the cold and have no life threatening further symptoms, seems far fetched. Wouldn't there be other symptoms that would need treatment or they'd get worse?

Given how drunk he is said to have been a fall resulting in a head injury certainly isn't impossible. It would depend on how many other people were around at the time as to whether anyone might have seen and remember someone falling over in the street.

 

[Elainera]

Given how drunk he is said to have been a fall resulting in a head injury certainly isn't impossible. It would depend on how many other people were around at the time as to whether anyone might have seen and remember someone falling over in the street.

I didn't question a head injury per se, that is certainly possible. I just doubt that he would be able to continue moving around in these temperatures and keeping himself sustained if it's so severe that he forgot he and where he is.

 

[rosesfromangels]

I was just checking MSM updates on Liam; nothing beyond what all of you have already posted. I just did a little research on crime stats for the area. Considering the various "offerings" and businesses in the Reeperbahn, it's crime rate is surprisingly (relatively) low.

I'm also surprised that given how cold it was the night Liam disappeared, that he didn't sober up rather quickly. He must have been polluted. In thinking this through, it could very well be that Liam is just to embarrassed to resurface. His disappearance has become international news.

In the unlikely chance Liam is reading about his disapearnce, I would tell him that this is mild compared to the uproar and misadventures I had in my checkered youth. I'm grateful to the man upstairs that I'm not one of the threads on this forum!

I would encourage him to call his brother and get back to the loving arms of his family.
Liam, time to go home!

 

[JG123]

In thinking this through, it could very well be that Liam is just to embarrassed to resurface. His disappearance has become international news.

I don't think a man would go missing then subsequently go into hiding, before his brothers wedding, with his whole family looking for him, unsure of whether he's alive or dead, for three weeks, because of embarrassment.

 

[eucalyptuz]

I think about how drunk he was reported to be at the bar - sitting down at the wrong table, trying to put on another person’s coat - and I can’t see a happy ending to this story. If he was still actively consuming alcohol at that point of the evening, then seen wandering around in a still-confused state an hour later I think the two most likely scenarios are:
1: fell into the river and drowned (low temperatures and currents keeping body submerged)
2: passed out and succumbed to the cold but not yet discovered.

The head injury/amnesia scenario is a nicer option to think about but not one I find realistic given all the time that has past now and the high profile coverage. Same with the voluntary disappearance option. How would he fund this kind of escape? Even if he stowed away on trains and tried to eat in shelters etc, I think he would blip on a radar somewhere.

I think dogs are a wonderful resource in so, so many cases but just as we humans can make mistakes, I think our canine friends are not infallible. I am skeptical about any of the leads that occurred after the first night. And if he does show up in the river and a drowning death is the verdict, I think our Occam’s razor score card will chalk up another point in the depressingly large pile of WS cases where drunk lad + water = sad ending.

 

[anonypotomous]

I don't think a man would go missing then subsequently go into hiding, before his brothers wedding, with his whole family looking for him, unsure of whether he's alive or dead, for three weeks, because of embarrassment.

Have we ever had that happen on this forum that we know of? Now I'm curious.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[*Verdigris]

I hope and pray we don’t end up with a situation like Corrie McKeague where we don’t know what happened to Liam after a significant amount of time has passed.

Or like Brian Shaffer.

I said I didn't want this to go on like Lar's disappearance have yet, here we are. The next month on

Unfortunately, at this point, it seems that Liam's case is going that way as well.

I'm familiar with Corrie McKeague's case; and had followed/communicated with family in Brian Shaffer's case since the beginning in 2006; and now, I have learned of Lars Mittank's case, thanks to AnaPisces.

This is just so veryveryveryvery sad.
Sad for the missing guys themselves; and especially for their families.

Please come back to us!
... :candle: :candle: :candle: :candle:

 

[dotr]

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/...or_news_of_missing_Liam_sees_no_end_in_sight/

There was no celebration on Friday. Eamonn’s wedding to partner Susan Dolan has been now been postponed while the family mounts a desperate search for the 29-year-old, with few leads to go on.

More than 20 days later they cling to the hope that Liam is somewhere out there wandering lost and confused, still trying to find his way home.

They say his disappearance in the early hours of Saturday 10 February is totally out of character for the fun-loving and easygoing postman from Inverness, who was charged with organising the stag weekend’s festivities.

The trip began in high spirits. It was supposed to be the type of blow-out that any young man bidding farewell to his single years would have been proud of.

It was a stag night in the full Scottish tradition, with beer, and food, and high-spirits as the group moved from bar to bar into the early hours of the morning, when they eventually ended up in the Veermaster pub in the Baumwall area, close to the River Elbe.

It was here that the friends had their last sighting of Liam, who slipped away at some point after 1am and was not seen by them since.

“We do have to remain hopeful and confident that we will get him home and have a great wedding with him there.”

 

[cybervampira]

***Update 05.03.18***
First of all, we would like to thank everyone for their efforts over the weekend in Hamburg. Searches were carried out by local volunteers and although these have as yet been unsuccessful, the support we continue to receive is something we are incredibly grateful for. We ask that everyone continues to remains vigilant throughout Hamburg. Please continue to check any disused buildings and have a look every time you enter a train station or board a train. Please also make yourself familiar with the latest photos in our album.

We must also say a massive thank you to the Hamburg Postal Service who have agreed to distribute 300,000 leaflets throughout Hamburg tomorrow. This is a fantastic gesture and will ensure Liam’s disappearance is further publicised. This was organised with the help of a fantastic group of volunteers. If you wish to join this group you can contact them here:

https://t.me/joinchat/ET3BvknUEmTmiEEWcAe60A

Back in Scotland, a fundraiser is being organised in Liam’s hometown of Inverness as well as the surrounding towns. Several pubs have kindly agreed to participate in a ‘One for Liam’ weekend. Anyone that buys a drink in participating bars can say ‘One for Liam’ and contribute the price of a drink to Liam’s cause. We thank all participating bars and encourage everyone to come out and support the search. Further details will be released this week.

We still strongly believe that Liam is waiting to be found. Please report any sightings of Liam to the police immediately. Please also report them to this group if you can. Even if you are not certain it is him, the quicker these are reported the quicker they can be effectively acted upon.

We sincerely thank you for the overwhelming support.

https://www.facebook.com/findliam/posts/2107478249496449

 

[RosalindaA]

Outlander actress Caitriona Balfe helping to bring publicity to Liam's case. I wish more celebrities would think about highlighting missing persons' cases, they can reach a lot of people easily:

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/ne...-caitriona-balfe-liam-colgan-missing-hamburg/

 

[Ironside]

I think dogs are a wonderful resource in so, so many cases but just as we humans can make mistakes, I think our canine friends are not infallible.

I'd guess tracking a live human scent in a large city like hamburg would be extremely difficult for these dogs to do. Far too many other human scents.

 

[Hap]

Each day I cautiously log on and check here..... hoping against hope that Liam will be found alive and well. And of course, fearing the opposite....

 

[cybervampira]

Deutsche Post (German Postal Service) distributed 300.000 flyers yesterday (German article).
https://www.bild.de/regional/hambur...-hilft-bei-suche-nach-liam-55013906.bild.html

 

[cybervampira]

This group would like to say a massive thank you to everyone involved in initiating and organising yesterday’s delivery of 300,000 leaflets throughout Hamburg.
This work would not have been possible without the tireless work of a group of local volunteers, organised through their Telegram group (https://t.me/joinchat/ET3BvknUEmTmiEEWcAe60A). They were able to find a supplier to kindly donate the necessary paper, arranged the printing of the leaflets as well as the collection and delivery of these to Deutsche Post using their own vehicles. They also assisted us in selecting the distribution areas. The work that this group continues to do is beyond anything we could have ever expected.
We must also thank all Deutsche Post in Hamburg for agreeing to such an epic challenge. We understand the added effort this created to everyone’s already busy workload and everyone involved in the search for Liam is hugely appreciative of this.
The success of this effort has maximised the exposure of Liam’s disappearance throughout Hamburg. On top of this, the subsequent increased media coverage has further raised awareness. We believe all this work has taken us a step closer to finding Liam.
We cannot thank everyone involved enough, the response of the people of Hamburg to Liam’s disappearance has been completely overwhelming and gives us real hope of finding him soon.
Again, we ask everyone to remain vigilant throughout Hamburg. Please report any sightings to the police immediately on 040 4286 56789 or 110 and also contact this page through the messaging function. These can be reported in both German and English. We must stress again the importance of reporting all sightings to the police. The police need to be aware of any potential sightings so that they can be investigated. We would like to also stress that Liam is a harmless and gentle person, if you think you see him please approach him to confirm it is him.

https://www.facebook.com/findliam/posts/2108587059385568

 

[Elainera]

I'm very impressed. What a great effort! As I said before, Germans are helpful and friendly people and once they commit to something they put in 100%. I hope the leaflets will bring new leads and Liam will be found now.

 

[cybervampira]

Missing postie Liam Colgan's manager reveals locals are 'devastated by his disappearance'
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/missing-postie-liam-colgans-manager-12136705
Some snippets from the article:

The Inverness postman would check up on elderly villagers along his route and hand them their mail if they were unable to lift it from the doorstep.

Missing postie Liam Colgan's manager has told how residents along his route are devastated by his disappearance.

Nicola Lyall, operations manager for Royal Mail in Inverness , says kind-hearted Liam would often go into houses to check on the elderly villagers while he delivered their post.

She said his colleagues have been asked for updates from worried members of the community in Fortrose every single day since he disappeared on February 10.

"This is testament as to how well thought of Liam is. I spoke to our staff in our Fortrose office and they told me that Liam is great with people, loves being a postie and is very well liked in the village.

"I warmly remember the time Liam cheekily had his eye on my company car, as it would hold all the band's gear - and he said I wouldn't need it at the weekend.

"There's not a single day that he isn't talked about in the office and his team are eager that he gets in touch and comes home."