Lars Mittank, who has been described as “essentially the most well-known lacking individual on YouTube,” was 28 when he vanished from an airport in Bulgaria in 2014 whereas vacationing from Germany. He was mentioned to be appearing bizarrely proper earlier than he disappeared. Now, 11 years later, he stays lacking.
Lars Joachim Mittank was born on 9 February 1986. Lars’ mom is Sandra Mittank and his father is talked about in lots of articles, however we can’t verify his identify.
Lars and Sandra had a detailed relationship. Lars was raised in Itzehoe in Northern Germany. He was mentioned to be widespread, had a girlfriend and a job at a neighborhood energy plant. Lars’ father suffered a stroke at one level and Lars helped out together with his care.
Lars liked soccer (soccer) and supported his native crew, Weder Bremen. Lars was usually seen sporting Adidas t-shirts and outdated sneakers.
The journey to Bulgaria was the primary time that Lars had traveled overseas. On 30 June 2014, Lars went with 5 of his faculty associates to Varna, a seaside resort on Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast.
“The week glided by actually quick,” Paul Rohmann, certainly one of Mittank’s associates, informed German tv in 2016. “We relaxed on the seaside, swam within the pool, performed soccer, went clubbing. He was relaxed. He was in an excellent temper.”
“I observed he didn’t eat a lot,” added Tim Schuldt, who was additionally on the journey. “He’d have a bowl of soup or a small plate of salad, and that was it.”
Apart from the dearth of urge for food, Lars’ associates have mentioned that his habits was regular and nothing appeared out of the peculiar.
On 6 July 2014, which was the day earlier than the group have been resulting from return to Germany, Lars acquired right into a battle with another German vacationers. They’d all been at a bar and the battle was over soccer.
Lars left his associates after the argument and disappeared for the remainder of the night time. He turned again as much as the resort the subsequent day and informed them that he had been overwhelmed up by the 4 of the lads he had beforehand argued with.
“I heard about it the subsequent morning,” his good friend Paul mentioned. “I used to be stunned. He was a peaceable man.”
Lars suffered an injured jaw and a ruptured eardrum following the battle. He went to see a health care provider and was suggested to not fly house. He was additionally prescribed antibiotics.
Lars’ associates wished to vary their flight plans to stick with him however he insisted that he was advantageous and they need to board their scheduled flight. He deliberate to fly house a day later after his ear had a while to heal.
The group (together with Lars) checked out of the resort and his associates flew house. Lars checked into the Lodge Coloration Varna for one night time because it was near the airport and was low cost.
After he checked in, Lars’ behaviour turned uncommon. He referred to as his mom Sandra and spoke in whispers to her. He mentioned that individuals have been attempting to rob and kill him and that she ought to cancel all his bank cards.
Sandra would later converse to the media concerning the name. “I believed, God, my son is in peril. I may hear his coronary heart pounding over the telephone. He mentioned individuals have been attempting to rob him or kill him.”
Later that night time, he texted her about his antibiotics, which docs routinely prescribe for ear infections: “What’s Cefuroxime 500?”
“Why did he textual content me about these tablets?” Sandra later requested.
Lars was additionally seen on CCTV within the resort, pacing up and down the corridors, looking home windows and hiding in an elevator (very Elisa Lam of him).
Lars left the resort at 1am for one hour, earlier than returning. His whereabouts throughout that point are unknown.
The next morning, Lars referred to as Sandra once more and informed her that the individuals who have been chasing him have been closing in.
“In hindsight, I ought to have requested him extra questions,” Sandra has mentioned. “However his mobile phone was operating out of battery, so our last dialog didn’t final for lengthy.”
Lars left the resort and went to the Varna airport on 8 July 2014. This was the day that he had deliberate to fly house to Germany.
He texted Sandra and mentioned that he had arrived on the airport.
He went to the airport physician, Kosta Kostov upon his arrival. I suppose this was to verify if his ear had healed sufficient to fly?
The physician described Lars as being ‘ nervous and erratic.’
The physician informed Lars that his ear had healed sufficient and that he was capable of fly house that day.
Lars refused to go away the physician’s workplace. He mentioned he was frightened that the antibiotics he had been prescribed have been incorrect.
Whereas Lars was seeing the physician, a development employee entered the workplace because the airport was being renovated. The physician has mentioned that Lars turned very agitated.
He yelled, “I don’t wish to die right here! I’ve to get out of right here!” He then acquired up and fled the workplace. He left behind all of his baggage, which included his pockets, cell phone, and passport. All Lars took with him have been the garments on his physique – a yellow t-shirt, denim shorts and white sneakers.
He was captured by airport safety cameras fleeing the terminal. As soon as exterior, he might be seen on the footage jogging away from the airport, climbing a fence, operating right into a meadow, and sprinting off digital camera within the route of an adjoining forest. These are his final confirmed whereabouts.
“Each time I see that video, I really feel like I wish to defend him,” Sandra later mentioned. “I wish to rescue him.”
Police have been unable to find out the place Lars went after he fled the airport. They searched the world with drones and cadaver canine and nothing was discovered.
Sandra ended up hiring a non-public investigator. That individual checked hospital data and located nothing.
Lars did have some expertise in searching and fishing however it’s not thought he may have survived because of the warmth and lack of meals – summer season temperature ranges between about 75-90f/ 17-30 c.
Round a yr after he disappeared, a truck driver reported that he had seen Lars hitchhiking in Varna. There have been a number of worldwide sightings of Lars, however none have been confirmed.
Somebody on reddit even posted that that they had discovered him in Canada – https://www.reddit.com/r/germany/feedback/71nug8/lars_mittank_found_in_canada/
“I bear in mind watching a YouTube video about him,” the Redditor wrote. “I’m 99.9 % positive it’s him. He seemed tough, nearly homeless.”
In December 2016, a person who resembled Lars was present in Brazil. He was strolling barefoot alongside a freeway and was disoriented.

The person ended up being recognized as Anton Pilipa, a Canadian man who had been lacking for 5 years.
In 2019, a German truck driver got here ahead and mentioned that he thought he had given Lars a experience. The driving force mentioned that the person had lengthy hair and a beard. He mentioned that his eyes appeared drained and his cheekbones have been distinguished.
Sandra has theorized that Lars had a uncommon response to Cefprozil, the treatment that he had been prescribed. A cephalosporin, it has been recognized to induce psychotic unwanted side effects, together with hallucinations and paranoia.
Nevertheless, Lars had informed the airport physician that he had not stuffed the prescription and had not been taking the treatment.
“He didn’t take these antibiotics. He didn’t even fill out his prescription”, Dr Kostov mentioned. “So his habits couldn’t have been a results of that. I can’t consider a single purpose why he left my workplace in such a panic. I’m nonetheless confused.”
As we talked about, Lars’ case is also known as some of the well-known lacking individual instances on YouTube. Movies about him have had hundreds of thousands of views. These are some feedback from that platform:
“He deliberate his disappearance. I’d wager cash on it,” one individual writes.
Sandra denies that Lars would have left voluntarily as they “had a particular bond.”
“He swallowed medicine and freaked out as a result of he was fearful of getting caught. He later died from an overdose,” theorizes one other.
Some individuals have additionally theorized that Lars was trafficked. Bulgaria has one of many highest charges of trafficking within the European Union.
“I feel if he’s alive, then he’s both being tortured or was offered as a intercourse slave,” one other YouTube commenter guessed. “It’s undoubtedly not something good, and he could be higher off lifeless if that have been the case. I really feel actually unhealthy for his mom. I can’t think about shedding my boy and never having closure.”
John Lordan from the Lordan Arts social media has some ideas:
“It’s clear he was combating a extreme paranoia. However was it because of the actuality of his state of affairs? Or how he perceived it? If it was his notion, which I feel is extra probably, we’re a psychological break, which, after all, then begs different questions: Was this resulting from an undisclosed or presumably undiagnosed psychological dysfunction? Or a horrible aspect impact of authorized or unlawful medicine? Or some mixture of these components?”
“There are a number of components that might have introduced it on,” a redditor argues. “We don’t know the way critical the hit to the top was, aside from from a health care provider who’s inclined to downplay it since he solely handled the ruptured eardrum. Mix that with experimenting with medicine, alcohol and an absence of sleep… three issues that aren’t unusual for individuals to expertise of their 20s whereas on vacation. That doesn’t, although, clarify the airport video. For somebody who has left his luggage and is operating, he seems remarkably tired of what’s happening behind him. Even with psychosis, you’ll expect him to be extraordinarily involved about being adopted.”
Lars is described as being 5’11” and weighing 187 lbs. with darkish blond hair and a scar on his left forearm, in accordance with the German Police. He would now be 39 years outdated.

SOURCE LIST
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Lars_Mittank
https://individuals.com/all-about-lars-mittank-mysterious-disappearance-11768067
https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/nations/2015/243404.htm