Lars Joachim Mittank (born February 9, 1986) is a man from Germany who went missing on July 8, 2014, near Varna Airport in Varna, Bulgaria. Mittank was on vacation at the Golden Sands resort, where he was said to have been in a fight. He could not fly home with his friends because of health issues. While alone in Bulgaria, Mittank acted strangely and called his mother, telling her that people were trying to harm him. On the day he was supposed to fly home, Mittank visited Varna Airport to speak with a doctor. Airport security footage later showed him running out of the airport and heading toward a forest nearby. Mittank has not been seen since. The case has drawn a lot of attention, and the number of times people watched the footage of him fleeing the airport led to him being called "the most famous missing person on YouTube."
Background of Lars Mittank
Lars Mittank was born on February 9, 1986, in Berlin, Germany. He grew up in Itzehoe, Schleswig-Holstein. He lived there for his entire life. He worked at a power plant. He had friends and a girlfriend. He visited his parents frequently. After his father had a stroke, he often helped his parents at their home after work. He was described as a normal person.
Unusual behaviour and disappearance
On 30 June 2014, 28-year-old Mittank traveled with five friends to Varna, Bulgaria. This was his first trip outside of Germany. The group was on vacation at the Golden Sands, a well-known beach resort near the city of Varna. "The week passed quickly," said Paul Rohmann, one of Mittank's friends, in a 2016 interview on German television. "We relaxed on the beach, swam in the pool, played football, and went to clubs. He seemed calm and happy." Another friend, Tim Schuldt, noted that Mittank ate very little, often having only a small bowl of soup or salad at a time. His friends did not observe any other unusual behavior from Mittank until the final days of the trip.
On 6 July 2014, the day before they were scheduled to return home, Mittank and his friends were at a bar in town. Mittank had an argument with some other German men about football. Mittank, a supporter of the football club SV Werder Bremen, had a disagreement with fans of FC Bayern Munich. After leaving the bar, Mittank separated from his friends outside a restaurant and disappeared for the rest of the night. The next morning, Mittank returned to the resort and told his friends that four men from the bar had attacked him. The fight caused Mittank to injure his jaw and damage his eardrum. He visited a doctor, who advised him not to fly due to his injuries and prescribed the antibiotic Cefprozil (500 mg). Mittank’s friends wanted to stay with him, but he insisted he was fine and told them to follow the original plan to return home on 7 July, which they did.
Mittank checked out of the resort at the same time as his friends and stayed one night at the Hotel Color Varna, a budget-friendly hotel near the airport. However, the day after his friends left, Mittank began acting paranoid. While at the hotel, Mittank called his mother, Sandra Mittank. In a whisper, he told her that people were trying to kill or rob him and asked her to cancel his credit cards. Hotel cameras recorded Mittank pacing in the hallways, looking out windows, and hiding in an elevator. At 1:00 a.m., he left the hotel and returned about an hour later. It is unknown what he did during that time. The next morning, he called his mother again, saying the people chasing him were getting closer.
Mittank was last seen at Varna Airport on 8 July 2014, the day he planned to fly home to Germany. He texted his mother that he had arrived at the airport. He visited the airport doctor, Kosta Kostov, who described Mittank’s behavior as "nervous and erratic." According to Kostov, Mittank said he was fine and could return home. However, Mittank did not leave the doctor’s office, expressing doubts about the medication he was taking. At that time, a construction worker entered the office. Kostov said Mittank began to tremble and shouted, "I don’t want to die here! I have to get out of here!" He then ran out of the office, leaving behind his luggage, which included his wallet, mobile phone, and passport. Airport security cameras captured Mittank fleeing the terminal. Once outside, he was seen jogging away from the airport, climbing a fence, running into a meadow, and sprinting toward an adjacent forest. These are Mittank’s last confirmed locations.
Speculation and subsequent developments
Experts and family members do not agree on the reasons for Mittank's behavior or how much of his paranoia was based on real events. Mittank's mother, along with Bulgarian and German doctors, believed his unusual actions might have been caused by a rare side effect from the antibiotic Cefprozil. This type of medicine, called a cephalosporin, is known to sometimes cause mental effects like hallucinations and paranoia. However, Kostov stated that Mittank did not take the medication. "He did not take those antibiotics. He did not even fill his prescription," Kostov said. "So his behavior could not have been caused by that. I cannot think of a reason why he left my office in such fear. I am still confused." Mittank's mother said he had no history of mental illness. However, some people have suggested that a mental breakdown from an undiagnosed mental illness might explain his actions.
It is unknown what happened to Mittank after he left the airport. Police could not find information about Lars Mittank's whereabouts, so his mother hired a private investigator named Andreas Gütig. The investigator looked for hospital records of patients without identification but found no results. Mittank had experience with hunting, fishing, and trapping, but experts question whether he could have survived long in the outdoors because of hot summers and limited food. Mittank's mother believes he is still alive and may have lost his memory. About a year after he disappeared, a truck driver reported seeing someone who looked like Mittank hitchhiking in Varna. There have been other sightings in different countries, but none have been confirmed. In 2019, a German truck driver gave a ride to a hitchhiker from Dresden to Schildow. Later, the driver realized the man resembled an older version of Mittank. The man had long hair and a beard, and his eyes looked tired with noticeable cheekbones.
Mittank is described as "the most famous missing person on YouTube." By May 2018, less than four years after his disappearance, airport security footage of him had been viewed more than 16 million times. The mystery of his case has led to many discussions and theories. The case remains unsolved.
Mittank is listed as 180 centimeters (5 feet 11 inches) tall with dark blond hair. He has a scar on his left forearm.