Missing Person Found! Fairy Tale Ending

Hello Folks,
I'm a German, searching for his Brother in law. Sorry for my bad english. Here is the story:

Since the 4th of July we, his family, haven’t heard anything about our husband, brother, father, brother in law and son, MATTHIAS. He was off on 4th of July to travel through Sikkim in northern India to see the sun eclipse on 21th of July.

I am the brother in law of Matthias, trying to find a contact or at least a sign of life. It is not possible to call him or send an email, because Matthias has no mobile phone and the last time he logged in his email account was from before the 4th of July.
He promised us to contact us from Delhi Airport after arrival and then every 10 days. But we haven’t heard anything of him since his departure. We saw him checking in in Hamburg, Germany. That was the last time of any contact to him.

We all, especially his wife Heike and his children Maria, Lucy and Arthur are very afraid, that something has happened to him. That’s why I started now to follow his journey.
But, as I said above, we are not able to track his trekking tour during his stay in India (no mobile phone, no hotel details, etc.), our only hint is his flight plan:

Flight 1 Saturday, July 04, 2009
13:00 Hamburg, Germany - Hamburg to 15:50 Helsinki, Finland
Flight 2 Saturday, July 04, 2009
18:45 Helsinki, Finland to 04:00 +1 day(s) Delhi, India - Indira Gandhi International
Flight 3 Sunday, July 05, 2009
10:30 Delhi, India - Indira Gandhi International to 12:30 Bagdogra, India - Bagdogra

Following his planned flights home:
Bagdogra to Hamburg
Flight 1 Thursday, July 30, 2009
14:50 Bagdogra, India to 16:50 Delhi, India
Flight 2 Friday, July 31, 2009
08:35 Delhi, India to 13:30 Helsinki, Finland
Flight 3 Friday, July 31, 2009
17:30 Helsinki, Finland to 18:30 Hamburg, Germany

Please help us to find Matthias. We will be very thankful for any help. Hints or tips. Directly, indirectly or any other idea how we can get information of his whereabouts. Thank you very much for your help in advance!

This is very important to us in order to decide what to do next and more important to react ASAP to intensify our efforts in searching for our beloved family member.





Thank you very much for your attention,
Stefan Zehner

I am extremely sorry to hear about your plight. Any updates on the situation?

Stefan, welcome to the site, I do hope someone on here can help.

Did he definitely take the Helsinki - Delhi flight?

Is he normally a reliable person when it comes to getting in touch?
The reason I ask is that if he did not even get in touch when he arrived at Delhi Airport, that suggests that he might not be thinking about his family right now. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's better than the alternative.

You say he cannot get in touch by email, but many many places in India have internet access. I'm unsure about Sikkim though, perhaps someone on here who knows the area can give you an idea about that.

Has he used his cashpoint card to withdraw any money in India?

At least the police would be able to let you know whether he takes his flight from Bagdogra, so you'll only have two days to wait until then - though I realise they will be two very long days. That's not conclusive though, he may have made friends along the way and changed his plans.

Best of luck, and wishing Matthias a safe return home.

@mridula: I will post if anything is changing. Promiss!

@Haylo

I am sure, because Heike, his wife, saw him checking in and entering the restricted area, before she leaves. Not in Helsinki, but in Hamburg.

We have had many discussions about this point. It sounds not harsh. He is a strong character and in normal life routine he is indeed not the very best in following arrangements. But it depends on what kind of arrangement it is. These arrangements are of not important things like to bring beer for a party or something like this. And additionally, only with "fellows".
Anything in his life, related to his family is very important for him and to these points he has ever been very reliable.
On any trip, privat or for work, he calls every single day, even if he is only for three days or only a hundred kilometers away from home.

But you are right theoretically he was not thinking about his family the time he arrives in Delhi. No question. Or there was something embarrassing him to call and he decided to do it later. But thats about three weeks ago.
But we came to the conclusion, that he would have called sometime he had the chance to. Whenever and whereever it is - if he could!

Accept from a possibillity, that he wanted to leave his old life.
But all these thoughts are theorie and we are sure there must be something.
OK, maybe he arrives on Friday smilling and well in Hamburg. What better can happen? We decide to start search for him and ask questions wherever we can. Better a question to much and be safe as the other way around. Am I right?

And the fact is, his wife, the kids, his sisters and his parents are going mad at the moment - without knowing.

We send emails and today we opened his email account. It displayed the last time somebody was in. It sais it was the 02. of July. The first user was in since then was his wife Heike - today.

That would be fine. His plan was to start in Bagdogra or Gangtok, trekking all the time and be right for time in that part of Sikkim to see the sun eclipse. He did not plan his route did not know the place to watch the sun eclipse in forehand. So we haven't got any clue where he at any day was. Thats the difficulty in this case. We have no hotel we can ask, no trekking company or what ever.
BTW: that was one of the reasons, why we first wantedt to check if he was personally on his flights. But know we have to push "the big wave" to the authority, to know :-(. And that is the point we hesitate a little.

Nope. That was really the story why I started today. His wife has to challange with his bank for the last week. Today she got the information, that no money was taken from the account since the end of june. And that was the money he toke in cash with him.

Oh yes, we hope all this, and more! And I will kick him into the river Elbe in Hamburg and won't let him out for two hole days!, Heike said.
We can't go to the police before his official flight back. thats the matter :-(.

So the hope was, because this seems to be a very big forum, that someone will log in who saw him the last days and find my Message.

Thank you very much for sympathy. I will post any news as soon as I know them.

Stefan

Very sorry to hear this, Stefan.

I would track him starting in Delhi. Did he actually arrive in India? If so, did he take a Bagdogra flight around that time (there can't be too many).

Good luck.

PS: The photograph you had inserted in the first post has disappeared.

Hello Capt_mahajan,

I can't confirm that, because this information I can get only after we make an advice for missing people at the police.

according to his flight plan (see first message), yes. But who knows if he was on board?

Thanks a lot!

Not here. Can u see it again?

Stefan

Stefan,

Sorry to hear about this.

Please consider calling the German Embassy in India( New Delhi),and ask if they can contact the Indian immigration authorities, to see if he has arrived in India.. between July 4th and now. I think the airport immigration folks must keep a record of all non Indian citizens arriving, but the (confidential)information will perhaps be shared with the German Embassy, if a person is missing. Once you determine if he arrived in Delhi, you can plot a course of action.

To make the search easier, you could try and get details of his passport( number , date of issue etc..), as this can be useful information when trying to track him down.Typically hotels in India keep details of passports of non citizens.
Best of luck.

I can see the photo still.

Very best of luck, do keep us posted. Hopefully the next photo you post on here will be a picture of you all throwing him into the Elbe!

I hope all turns out well. You need to contact the airlines on which his ticket was booked to Delhi and confirm whether he boarded the flight or not (This you can check through a call). If he had actually boarded the flight to Delhi, the first thing that you would need to do is file a missing person report with police if he does not return as scheduled. Other actions will only follow once these are done.

Which airlines did he use for the flight within India? You could try contacting them over phone to see if he actually took that flight.

Also, did he get an Indian visa? Has he traveled in India before?

Hello Boston123,


I wrote them an email already, but ask them to ask the FINNAIR. They told me, that it is not possible, I should go to the police in Hamburg, they can ask then FINNAIR in Hamburg.
But I will ask again with your idea...
I have the passport number and have send it to them already.
I am awaiting an email from the embassy at the moment. So I will wait until tomorrow morning...

Thanks a lot,
Stefan

Hi jituyadav,

They don't want to tell me anything. They said only police or embassy can ask :-(.
So we have to wait...

Thanks a lot,
Stefan

OK,keep us informed.If there is any support you require,just post it here.

Hi Mazha,


KINGFISHER RED SERVICE is on his flight plan. I'll try to find out a number or email address. Thanks for the tip :-).
BTW: Do you think KINGFISHER will tell me anything, FINNAIR not?

Of course he has. I haven't got them here, but I know he has the visa in a special permission for Sikkim.

Stefan

Dear Stefan,

Do you have the details of

Flight 3 Sunday, July 05, 2009
10:30 Delhi, India - Indira Gandhi International to 12:30 Bagdogra, India - Bagdogra

What Airline was he flying and the flight number if you have it?

Further, don't Panic yet, The North East of India doesn't have the best connectivity either in terms of Internet or Cellular / Telephone connections. He is expected back in Delhi on the 30th of July, please also provide flight details of that flight (Airline and Flight Number).

Cheers.