In July 2014, a young German tourist walked into an airport medical office to be cleared for a flight home. Minutes later, security cameras recorded him sprinting across the grounds and climbing the perimeter fence. He has not been confirmed seen since. What was he running from?

Narrated with a synthetic voice.

IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION
Contact the police: +49 4821 6020 · Bezirkskriminalinspektion Itzehoe · bka.de

CHAPTERS
00:00 The Man Who Ran
02:30 The First Time He Ever Left Germany
03:41 One Punch Outside a McDonald's
05:35 Everyone Flies Home Except Him
07:06 The Night He Called His Mother
08:52 The Last Morning
12:39 What He Left Behind
14:43 Five Explanations, None Proven
18:20 Every Sighting Led Nowhere
19:27 Sixteen Million Views
20:10 Documented Failures
20:55 What Happened Next

Watch the documentary (with the maps, documents and reconstructions) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK5hqMsFciI

SOURCES
- BKA — Fahndung nach vermisstem MITTANK, Lars Joachim (actualizada 18 jun 2024): https://www.bka.de/DE/IhreSicherheit/Fahndungen/Personen/Vermisste/Mittank/Sachverhalt_Mittank.html
- Kirk Pepi, *MEL Magazine*, "The Mystery of the Most Famous Missing Person on YouTube" (abr 2018): https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/the-mystery-of-the-most-famous-missing-person-on-youtube-2
- Crime+Investigation UK, "Vanished on a lads' holiday": https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/articles/vanished-lads-holiday-disappearance-lars-mittank
- watson.ch, "Panisch aus dem Flughafen gestürmt" (25 abr 2018): https://www.watson.ch/international/deutschland/368864252-panisch-aus-dem-flughafen-gestuermt-das-mysterioese-verschwinden-von-lars-mittank
- t-online, "Lars Mittank in Bulgarien-Urlaub verschwunden: Familie plant 'große Sache'" (ago 2024): https://hamburg.t-online.de/region/hamburg/id_100459584/lars-mittank-in-bulgarien-urlaub-verschwunden-familie-plant-grosse-sache-.html
- Wikipedia EN, "Disappearance of Lars Mittank": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Lars_Mittank
- Wikipedia DE, "Vermisstenfall Lars Mittank": https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermisstenfall_Lars_Mittank
- Solve the Case, caso 2014-36: https://www.solvethecase.org/case/2014-36/lars-mittank

NOTES
- Based on public, verifiable sources (listed above). Where sources disagree on dates, times or descriptions, the episode says so rather than choosing one silently.
- The portrait on the episode artwork is an illustration, not a photograph.

MUSIC AND SOUND
- "Emotional Piano Background Music" by Migfus20 (CC BY 4.0) - https://freesound.org/people/Migfus20/sounds/564855/
- "Filmesque 01.wav" by Accorman (CC BY 4.0) - https://freesound.org/people/Accorman/sounds/577072/
- "Mysterious Background Music Orchestra" by Migfus20 (CC BY 4.0) - https://freesound.org/people/Migfus20/sounds/560444/
- "mystery+puzzle music - piano version (no drums)" by ZHRØ (CC BY 4.0) - https://freesound.org/people/ZHR%C3%98/sounds/807894/

ABOUT THE SHOW
The Cold Dossier explores true crime cases through documented facts, timelines, evidence, contradictions, and unanswered questions.