Body of mute boy who went missing from his home found less than two miles away

A mute six-year-old boy who went missing from his home in April has been found dead less than two miles away.

Arian Arnold, who had autism and was nonverbal, wandered away from the property in Elm, Lower Saxony State, Germany while his parents were distracted.

CCTV footage from the the day he disappeared, April 22, showed him walking the streets close to his home wearing a distinctive orange shirt and seemingly lost.

A huge search involving police and 1,200 volunteers using sniffer dogs, drones, boats, divers, sonar and even a military Tornado jet failed to find him.

But on Monday a farmhand came across his remains in a field in Estorf, just a 20-minute walk from Arian’s home.

The area that had been searched by police several times.

Speaking to local media, farmer Jan Schlesselmann, 54, said his son had initially spotted something colourful next to ‘a swampy hole filled with water’ when he mowed the field but ‘didn’t pay any further attention to it’.

However, the farm hand later noticed it was a body and alerted his employer.

Mr Schlesselmann said: ‘So I drove over there. My employee was scared sh*tless. And I knew straight away what it could be.

‘It’s about two kilometres in a straight line from Arian’s hometown to where the body was found.’

After calling the police he led them to the body, which is now undergoing an autopsy to establish how he died.

Arian’s identity was confirmed by a DNA sample, police said.

Rotenburg Police Department press officer Marvin Teschke said in a statement: ‘Based on the result of the DNA comparison, the investigating authorities are now certain that the body found in the municipality of Estorf (district of Stade) is that of Arian from Elm, who was reported missing in April.’

Police, however, have not disclosed whether or not they believe Arian was the victim of a crime, reports local media.

German criminologist, Axel Petermann said: ‘The longer the boy lay dead in this spot, the more difficult it would be to determine an exact cause of death – such as starvation or freezing – and an exact time of death.

‘It is possible that his parents will never find out exactly how and when their Arian died.’

But he seemed to suggest Arian could have been killed and his body dumped in the field.

Mr Petermann said: ‘It is possible that Arian did not die at this place.

‘That he was perhaps still alive a few days after his disappearance and was somewhere else or wandered around and was then taken there – to the place where he was found – or simply went there.’

Temperatures on the night Arian went missing dipped below freezing.

The investigation continues.

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