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Report nowLittle Pawlos from Weilburg in central Hesse is still missing. According to the police, there were still no new leads on Saturday. The search continues.
On the fifth day after the disappearance of little Pawlos, the search for the six-year-old continues in Weilburg in central Hesse, albeit with significantly fewer forces. According to the police, a double-digit number of officers from the Limburg-Weilburg police department and from the entire West Hesse region were still involved on Saturday. According to a spokesperson, there were initially no new leads.
According to the authorities, the "autistic" boy has been missing since Tuesday afternoon. Since then, a large-scale search has been underway. Hundreds of emergency services as well as rescue dogs, equestrian teams, boats and helicopters have been deployed over the past few days.
Today, the colorful balloons are still blowing in the wind near the Lahn, hung up in the hope that the sight of them might lure Pawlos out of hiding. Otherwise, it has become quieter in Weilburg town center. The occasional police car drives along the streets, a few sniffer dogs sniff around the riverbank.
For the police, one thing is clear: "We are doing everything we can to find the boy alive."
Image: dpa
Nearby, two men are standing in front of the rowing club and chatting. "Difficult to find anything here," says one of them, looking out over the nearby water. Although the Lahn has little current here, this changes at the nearby weir. "The current picks up speed there." The area around the weir, where the water rushes loudly, had been systematically searched by divers the day before, but without any new findings. According to the police, there are no plans for the divers to search again at the weekend
At the train station, the place where the boy was last seen on Tuesday afternoon, a man is strolling along with his small dog. He lives nearby and has already searched his yard for the six-year-old, he says. "If we don't find the boy soon, it's going to be tight," he says.
The police will continue to follow up every tip, said the spokesman. As in previous days, the focus of police measures is on investigative work and the evaluation of tips. Video evaluations will also continue to be examined. The child's family will continue to receive intensive support and the nationwide search for the child will be maintained. It is still assumed that Pawlos will be found alive. "But of course we can no longer rule anything out," said the spokesperson.
The six-year-old attended a special school in the city. On Tuesday afternoon, he ran away for no apparent reason. Shortly afterwards, a passer-by saw him at the small train station near the Lahn, just a few hundred meters from the school. This is also where the trail picked up by the sniffer dogs ends.
A video recently emerged which, according to the police, "very probably" shows Pawlos. It shows a boy standing on a busy road. Next to him, a road user can be seen escorting him off the road. So far, this is the last sign of life from the boy.
The police assume that it was taken soon after the sighting at the station, also near the Lahn, where the divers were deployed on Friday. "We have spoken to both the creator of the video and the man who can be seen in the video," said the spokesperson. There is still no indication of a crime. Everything else is the subject of the investigation.
According to the police, Pawlos is not spatially oriented and is jumpy. Anyone who sees him should not speak to him directly or call out to him, as he is very jumpy, and should instead dial 110 or contact a police station, they said.
Hesse's Minister President Boris Rhein (CDU) thanked the helpers on Saturday. "I hope and wish that the boy will be found soon and is safe and well," he wrote on Platform X. "I would like to thank the emergency services and the citizens of Weilburg who are tirelessly searching for little Pawlos."