This morning, everything seemed perfectly alright, as Sina F., a worried class mate, told the paper. “He sent me several smileys, a sun, a thumbs-up and even a little flower.” That was exactly three hours and eleven minutes ago. After that, the pupil who attended secondary school seems to have vanished without a trace. “He was last online at 1.23 p.m.” says his friend Sina, her voice all shaky, whilst holding up her smartphone.
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| This is what Niklas looked like when he was seen last |
“I’m sure he hasn’t hurt himself or anything. His emojis were so full of life!” Dustin says. “Yesterday for example, he sent me this ghost. It’s so funny! Have you seen it?” Then, Dustin appears thoughtful and downcast again.
Meanwhile, Munich police have embarked on a large-scale search for the popular pupil. 32 WhatsApp groups have already been scanned for traces, a further 14 are supposed to be combed through one after the other. So far, there are no hints as to where Niklas could be. Even in the adjacent Instagram, the local forces could not find him.
Niklas’s family are now hoping sincerely that they will soon receive a life sign from their boy. “As a rule, missed persons reappear online after a few hours in such cases”, as detective chief inspector Ludwig Prinz says encouragingly. “Sometimes, they even send an SMS or they call, but this is extremely rare.” If his relatives should hear nothing from Niklas until tonight, they are even considering looking inside his room in order to find him.
swo; first published 2016-12-05
Read the German version HERE.
