Everyone enjoys a holiday to unwind and relax in a new place but for Lars Mittank his holiday would soon turn into an infamous mysterious missing persons case.
Lars Joachim Mittank was born on February 9 1986 in Berlin, Germany. Bulgaria is a popular place for young people to go on holiday and so on the 30 June 2014 Lars went along with his friends to Varna, the third largest city in the country and is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, they chose to stay at the Golden Sands seaside resort just outside of Varna.
Golden Sands
On July 6 2014, Lars and his friends visited a bar in town where they got into an argument with other patrons of the bar over football. Lars being a die hard fan of Werder Breman and the four other men supporting rivals Bayern Munich so the argument erupted over whose team were superior. After the argument Lars left the bar without his friends and wasn't seen by them until the next morning in the resort.
Lars then told his friends that when he left the bar he was attacked by a group of four men. His friends give different accounts as to who the men were, some said it was the men they had argued with that night about the football and others said it was a different set of local men who were hired by the men who they had argued with. Lars had walked away from the attack with minor injuries considering it was four against one, his jaw was hurt and he complained of his ear hurting him.
Lars Mittank
After the pain persisted Lars went to see a local doctor who informed him that he had a ruptured eardrum. The doctor prescribed an antibiotic commonly used in Bulgaria to treat injuries such as Lars' so they didn't get infected, he was given 500 milligrams of Cefprozil. Due to the ruptured eardrum Lars was deemed unsafe to fly home on the flight later that day and after convincing his friends that he would be fine and would arrange either another mode of transportation or get further medical help to get back to Germany, his friends flew back home without him.
It is here that Lars begins to exhibit worrying behaviour. He picked up his prescription at a pharmacy in Varna and due to the popular area they had been staying in Lars had to get another hotel, he chose one close to the airport called Hotel Color Varna for the night. It was later on in the night that Lars made his first call to his mother, he requested that she block his credit card as he said the desk clerk had made a copy, something he had never seen a clerk do before, he told her not to worry as he had enough cash on him and then told her that he felt unsafe in this new hotel. CCTV in the hotel showed Lars hiding in the lift for a period of time before leaving the hotel around midnight, returning hours later.
After this trip outside the hotel for an unknown reason Lars called his mother again panicked and afraid whispering about how some unknown people were following him and trying to kill him. He also called her asking about his medication, complaining how when he was given these tablets that the doctor wasn't polite and refused to speak English to him.
Hotel Color
On July 8 2014, Lars stopped a taxi in the early hours that took him to Varna Airport to catch a flight that his mother had arranged to get her son home. He rang his mother to let her know he had gotten to the airport safely and he was going to see the doctor there to confirm he was safe to fly, he also mentioned that he didn't have enough money on him. From there he went to see the medical office and after an examination the doctor told Lars he was fit to fly, the doctor later stated that Lars looked nervous and uneasy and kept asking questions about the medication he had been given. The airport was undergoing refurbishment at the time and during the examination a construction worker walked in seemingly by mistake which seemed to have startled Lars.
It was at this time Lars was heard muttering "I don't want to die here. I have to get out of here." he dropped his luggage on the floor and suddenly ran full speed down the hall. Outside the airport, he then climbed a fence and disappeared into a field of sunflowers and was never seen again. He was 28 years old.
What makes Lars' disappearance strange is that he did not have any mental health issues that could explain his odd and paranoid behaviour. Many thought perhaps the stress of his life had gotten to him and he had simply had a psychotic episode but this behaviour came out of the blue, usually there are signs of someone struggling before something of this nature happening.
His family and friends all said that Lars was on good terms with everyone, his friends had offered to reschedule their flights and stay with him so he wouldn't have to fly back alone and he texted his mother throughout the stay, clearly he had a good support system and no problems that could have led to him disappearing. When he fled from the airport he left his passport, phone and wallet behind.
Lars running through the Varna Airport
One theory is that Lars found himself caught up in some sort of crime, most said is drugs, although how he got involved is unclear and out of character so this is largely discounted. A popular theory is the men who argued with Lars and attacked him. He told his mother he was being followed and that these people meant to harm him, if it was these men it would explain why Lars fled as he knew they were violent. Most believe that Lars was under the influence of drugs, in particular the antibiotic he was given has side effects of dizziness, restlessness and hyperactivity along with hallucinations.
In an online feature of the case Dr. Todd Grande, a certified mental health counsellor, looked into the case, he proposes that perhaps Lars' behaviour could have been a mixture of a reaction to the antibiotics and he may have experienced a "first break psychosis" or the "onset of something like schizophrenia". Dr. Grande states this could explain the sudden bizarre behaviour, paranoia, delusions and anxiety. He says this makes more sense than a sinister unknown group of men but does not explain why Lars or his body have never been found.
Despite years of investigation from the BKA, Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office, Lars remains missing despite many people claiming to have seen him. Hope came to the case in 2016 when police in Porto Velho, Brazil picked up a man who had no idea who he was. After photos of the man sleeping in the hospital went online many thought the man looked very much like the missing 28 year old but the man was later identified as Anton Pilipa, a man from Toronto, Canada who had been missing for five years.
Lars' mother
A truck driver in 2019 claimed he had given a man a lift out of Dresden, Germany as he was leaving the city of Brandenburg. The driver noticed the man had a similar appearance to that of Lars. This lead went nowhere. Lars' mother believes this to be a good lead as she has shared this online.
Lars' mother has never given up on her son, she has done countless television appearances and radio shows that have aired on both German and Bulgarian channels but they have sadly never turned up a fresh lead in her sons case. She tirelessly campaigns for her son, she runs a 41,000 person strong Facebook group called Findet Lars Mittank, where she posts updates regularly. She believes her son may have amnesia and not know who he is.
After the footage of Lars fleeing from the airport was posted online it soon gained millions of views and Lars would later be known as the most famous missing person on YouTube due to his last known movements being caught on CCTV, the footage can be viewed here.
Lars at the time of his disappearance and with a beard and longer hair
At Apollo's Raven we have our own theory. After Lars was attacked he did not seek medical attention straight away, he waited until he was in significant pain before doing so. We think it could be possible that Lars' injuries were more severe than just a ruptured ear drum and perhaps the first doctor did not examine Lars properly or the language barrier could have led to a miscommunication, we found it strange how an attack by a group of men against just one man could leave Lars with such small injuries. Lars clearly suffered a blow to the head to rupture his eardrum, we believe he may have had a brain injury which then combined with the antibiotics created a terrible set of events. Lars had also been drinking on the night of the attack and we all know medication and alcohol do not mix especially antibiotics. We feel this may have been what happened to Lars, a terrible set of events that led to his out of character behaviour and why he fled the airport but the mystery of why no trace of Lars or his body have been found remains a mystery.
We can hope that someday Lars can find his way home and his mother can finally get some answers, we can't imagine the pain of not only your son going missing and not being able to find any trace of him but the worrying behaviour he was showing must have been terrible for her not being able to help her child as he was in a different country. Hopefully Lars is out there somewhere, safe and alive just perhaps a little confused as to who he is.
If you have any information about Lars you can contact the German Police on 110 or you can call the Investigative Agency on +49151 613 78673
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