On the 8th of July 2014, at Varna Airport in Bulgaria, German holiday maker Lars Mittank
ditched his suitcase, sprinted from the terminal, clambered over a fence, and
disappeared into the woods. He would never be seen again, and his abrupt
disappearance would remain a mystery for years to come.
Lars was on holiday with four friends at a resort called Golden Sands. This
all-inclusive holiday destination was popular with young Germans. Situated on
the coast of the Black Sea it was considered a low-cost party destination.
Lars and his friends were staying at the hotel Viva Club within the resort. The
holiday was a good one. The group relaxed on the beach, played
football, drank together, and went clubbing. All was well until almost a
week had passed - just a few days before he was due to fly home with his friends
Lars got into a fight in a 24-hour McDonald's close to the hotel. It was a
brief altercation. Lars was a passionate Bremen fan, while the four German tourists he
encountered were fans of the rival Bayern Munich. They argued and someone
punched Lars in the face, rupturing his eardrum. His friends were naturally
shocked by the incident, and encouraged Lars to visit a local hospital. He did
so, where he was given a course of the antibiotic Cefuroxime 500 in order to
prevent infection. Lars could have undergone a relatively simple surgical
procedure to patch his damaged eardrum, but he did not - perhaps because he
decided he would rather be treated at home than in an unfamiliar country. In
any event he returned to the hotel with the antibiotics and informed his friends
that he wouldn't be accompanying them home as scheduled that day.
He had been advised that the change in cabin pressure from being on board a
plane could exacerbate his condition, and so he planned to rest and recuperate for
a day or two before braving the flight. His friends, of course, were concerned
about him, but Lars assured them that he was fine and just wanted to play it safe.
He would get a cheap hotel and follow them home in a day or two. Convinced, his
friends left for the airport. Little did they know that they would never see Lars
again. Lars, alone now in an unfamiliar place, set about looking for a cheap
hotel. It was the busy season and his choices
were limited, but he eventually found a room at the Hotel Color, which was both
cheap and close to the airport. It seemed ideal for his purposes. As
night closed in, however, Lars's behavior started to become erratic. He called his
mother from his hotel room and, panicking, told her that he was being followed and
needed to find a place to hide. People, he claimed, were trying to rob or kill him.
He begged his mother to freeze his credit card, which she did, then he hung up.
Later that night he texted her asking what Cefuroxime 500 (the
antibiotic he had been prescribed for his ruptured eardrum) was. CCTV from
the hotel foyer shows him pacing about in an agitated fashion, hiding in the
elevator, and at one point leaving the hotel for an hour in the middle of the
night before returning and holing up in his room. He called his mother one more
time at dawn, saying that the people who were following him were getting close,
and that he was afraid. Shortly after that Lars hailed a taxi
and traveled to the airport, texting his mother as he did so. His phone battery
was running down rapidly and she was worried about him.
She prompted him to go and see the airport doctor before he flew. Lars did
so. Dr Kosta Kostov was on duty that day and when Lars arrived at his office
the doctor noticed that he was behaving oddly, almost as though nervous or
paranoid. Dr Kostov examined him nonetheless and confirmed that he was
well enough to fly. No sooner had he done so, though, than the consultation was
interrupted by a construction worker. The terminal was being refurbished at the
time and it was normal for construction workers to have access to offices and
private rooms. On this occasion, however, the intrusion triggered something in
Lars. Muttering, he said, "I don't want to die here." Then he leapt to his feet, abandoned
his luggage, and sprinted from the room. CCTV shows Lars sprinting through the
airport and then out the main doors. He crosses the carpark,
clambers over a barbed wire fence, and disappears into a wooded area on the
other side. He is never seen again. What happened to Lars after his disappearance
remains a mystery. The police conducted a thorough search
of the area including the use of dogs, but found nothing. There was a worldwide
appeal and thousands searched for Lars for days and months. They found nothing.
All that's left behind is his luggage, including the untouched Cefuroxime 500
pills. The footage of his final moments has been circulated endlessly,
pored over by thousands of viewers... but it provides no clue as to what happened
to him after he disappeared into the woods.
Some people theorized that he was killed or kidnapped by persons unknown. More
likely, however, is that he was experiencing extreme paranoia perhaps as
a result of the blow to the head, or perhaps due to other unknown factors.
This caused him to flee, whereafter he died of exposure and has yet to be
discovered, or else has been living rough or in hiding for years, his previous life
that all more than a memory. While there have been sightings,
some of them - like this man found with no documentation and no memory of his past
in Brazil - were quite promising but ultimately none have turned out to be
Lars Mittank. The search continues to this day.