Police say there is no evidence of foul play in the case of an eight-year-old boy who was found in a rainwater sewer more than a week after disappearing in northern Germany.
The boy, identified only as Joe, disappeared on June 17 in the town of Oldenburg. Research groups spent days searching for him in vain until someone heard moans from under a fence cover about 330 meters from the boy’s home on June 25th. Rescuers found the child naked, cold and dehydrated inside the sewer, but otherwise unharmed. His clothes were later found elsewhere in the sewer.
Police officers examine a storm drain on June 25, 2022 in Lower Saxony, Oldenburg. An eight-year-old boy from Oldenburg, who was missing for eight days, has been found alive in a storm drain. Andre van Elten / photo alliance via Getty Images
In a statement on Tuesday, Oldenburg police said their investigation concluded the boy had probably climbed into a drainage pipe near his home and then got lost inside the narrow tunnels. Witnesses who claimed to have seen the child outside the tunnels or in the company of an adult were considered wrong.
The boy, who remains in hospital, has not yet been questioned by officers, police said.
Police said the search included a “wide variety of police departments across the country,” as well as fire brigades and “countless individual citizens who participated in Joe’s search.”
“I am very impressed by the great commitment of the last few days,” Oldenburg Police President Johann Kühme said in a statement. “I would like to thank all the main and voluntary forces and people who have done everything with empathy and a high personal effort – until well into the night – to find the missing child.”
Damian Bodde (dr.) And Marc Meyerholz prepare a robot for use on June 25, 2022 in Oldenburg, Germany. Eight days after his disappearance, eight-year-old Joe was discovered on an Oldenburg fence. Martin Remmers / photo alliance via Getty Images