Lars Mittank Was Last Seen Sprinting Toward a Forest 11 Years Ago. Revisit the 'Most Famous Missing Person on YouTube' Case

Lars Joachim Mittank is a German man who suddenly disappeared in 2014 and became “the most famous missing person on YouTube.”

Mittank, who was born in 1986, was on vacation with friends at a Varna, Bulgaria resort before he suddenly vanished near the airport. His disappearance became widely known, as he was last seen on airport security footage walking around the airport before running outside and toward a forest, never to be seen again.

To add further confusion to the story, Mittank called his mom ahead of his disappearance and frantically claimed that people were out to kill him. He also reportedly got into a fight earlier on in the vacation and later met with doctors about his injuries.

After his disappearance was reported in 2014, Mittank’s surveillance video quickly surfaced on YouTube. The video garnered millions of views, leading Mittank to become “the most famous missing person on YouTube.”

Although there have been various theories about his disappearance, Mittank’s case has never been solved. People have also claimed to have seen Mittank over the years, but he has never officially reappeared.

Here’s everything to know about Lars Mittank and his mysterious disappearance.

Who is Lars Mittank?

Lars Mittank is a German citizen who was born in Berlin in 1986 and was 28 years old at the time of his disappearance. He had a close relationship with his mother, Sandra Mittank, who raised him in Itzehoe, a town in northern Germany, according to Mel Magazine. He also had friends, a girlfriend and a job at a local power plant.

He is described as being 5’11” and weighing 187 lbs. with dark blond hair and a scar on his left forearm, according to the German Police.

Prior to his disappearance, he was vacationing in Varna, Bulgaria, at the Golden Sands resort with a group of high school friends.

“The week went by really fast,” Paul Rohmann, one of Mittank’s friends, told German television in 2016, per Mel Magazine. “We relaxed on the beach, swam in the pool, played football, went clubbing. He was relaxed. He was in a good mood.”

What happened to Lars Mittank?

The night before Mittank and his friends were supposed to leave Bulgaria, he allegedly got into a fight with another group of tourists over football, according to Spiegel Panorama. Mittank’s friends had all returned to the hotel room at that point, but they recalled Mittank telling them that he had been punched in the face, injuring his jaw and rupturing his eardrum, per the Mirror.

Mittank subsequently saw a doctor for his injuries and was prescribed the antibiotic Cefprozil, according to LADbible. Due to his injuries, the doctor advised him not to fly.

On July 7, 2014, Mittank’s friends flew home to Germany. Meanwhile, he checked out of the Golden Sands resort and into the airport’s nearby hotel, Color Varna.

Later that night, Mittank began acting paranoid. He called his mom, Sandra, and allegedly told her that people were trying to kill or rob him, according to Mel Magazine. The hotel cameras later recorded him pacing in the hallway, looking out windows and even hiding in an elevator.

“I thought, God, my son is in danger,” Sandra told a German television show in 2016, according to Mel Magazine. “I could hear his heart pounding over the phone. He said people were trying to rob him or kill him.”

Per the outlet, around 1 a.m. on July 8, 2014, Mittank left the hotel for about an hour before returning, and it’s unclear what he did during that time. A few hours later, he called Sandra and claimed that the people trying to kill or rob him were nearing.

Amid his panicked thoughts, Mittank left for the Varna Airport in hopes of flying home to Germany. He was seen on video arriving in a yellow shirt and jean shorts while carrying his suitcase.

Upon arriving, he met with the airport’s doctor, Kosta Kostov, who informed Mittank that he was fit to fly. The doctor later recalled Mittank behaving “nervous and erratic,” per Mel Magazine. After Kostov cleared him to fly, Mittank panicked and yelled, “I don’t want to die here. I have to get out of here!” per the Mirror. He ran out of the office and left behind all of his luggage, cell phone and passport.

Mittank’s final moments were captured on the airport’s surveillance cameras — the footage shows him running outside the terminal and the airport until he reaches a nearby forest. He was last seen climbing a fence and running into the trees.

Why is he the “most famous missing person on YouTube?”

Mittank’s disappearance was unique to many true crime fans, since most of the ordeal in the airport was captured on camera. While attempting to find Mittank, his final moments were released through various websites, including YouTube.

The original video showing Mittank’s run into the forest has been deleted, but as of 2018 — four years after his last sighting — it had more than 16 million views. Although the original video is no longer on YouTube, there are several true crime websites that have uploaded the clips and garnered views in the millions.

“Every time I see that video, I feel like I want to protect him,” Sandra said on a German television show, per Mel Magazine. “I want to rescue him.”

Have there been sightings of Lars Mittank?

There have been no official sightings of Mittank since his disappearance. However, over the years, several people have reported seeing him all over the world.

In 2016, police thought they had located Mittank after seeing a man with similar looks walking along a highway in Porto Velho, Brazil, per the Daily Mail. The man was disoriented and had no identification. A photo of him lying in the hospital began spreading on social media, and people started to theorize that he was Mittank. However, the police later identified the man as Anton Pilipa, a Canadian who went missing five years before.

Five years after his disappearance, a German truck driver gave a hitchhiker a ride from Dresden to Schildow. After dropping him off, the driver heard about Mittank’s case and said that the man resembled Mittank, according to the Berlin Spectator. However, authorities were unable to locate the man in question.

What are the theories surrounding Lars Mittank’s disappearance?

Since Mittank’s whereabouts after his disappearance were never revealed, there are dozens of theories about what happened to him. Mittank’s mom, Sandra, hired private investigator Andreas Gütig to get to the bottom of what happened, but she didn’t receive any answers, per Mel Magazine. Over 10 years after his disappearance, Sandra has continued advocating for her son.

While Sandra isn’t completely sure what happened to Mittank, she theorized that his mental state was not the same on the day he disappeared. However, she also claimed that her son didn’t have a history with mental illness.

“Perhaps that fight stressed him out, and it triggered something in him,” Sandra said on German television.

Several true crime fans and Reddit sleuths have speculated that Mittank might have purposely behaved erratically and vanished without a trace because he wanted to run away and get a new life.

However, Sandra has stated that she doesn’t believe this theory, because the two of them “had a special bond.”

Some have clung onto the idea that Mittank might have been truthful with his claims that someone was after him. People have theorized that either the group that fought Mittank a few nights back or a private criminal enterprise was trying to capture or kill him. However, police have not found connections between Mittank and any sort of illegal entity.

Finally, many people have argued that Mittank may have been triggered or injured enough to suffer a psychotic break. Although Mittank’s mom said that he didn’t have a diagnosed mental illness, some have speculated that he could have been undiagnosed, and symptoms might not have appeared until the fight. The antibiotics he was prescribed after the fight could have also altered his mind.

Although Mittank has never been found and the police have not confirmed a specific theory, true crime fans and his family and friends still remain hopeful that they’ll have answers one day. There is even a Facebook page, called the Findet Lars Mittank Group, that includes more than 55,000 users trying to find Mittank.