Selects: The Disappearance of Lars Mittank

March 28, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Lars Mittank, a 28-year-old German engineer from northern Germany, vanished on July 8, 2014, after a vacation in Bulgaria's Golden Sands resort near Varna. Captured on airport CCTV sprinting from a doctor's office and leaping into a sunflower field—footage that made him YouTube's most famous missing person—the case hinges on a sequence of escalating oddities during what started as a friends' beach trip. Hosts Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant sift verified details amid online inconsistencies, noting challenges accessing Bulgarian records.

Vacation and the Bar Fight

Mittank, an only child who cared for his stroke-afflicted father on weekends, joined four or five high school friends reluctantly at his mother's urging. An athletic Werder Bremen soccer fan on a health kick, he ate lightly amid all-inclusive buffets while they partied. The group watched a World Cup match at Rok Bar, clashing verbally—and possibly physically—with Bayern Munich fans, recent high school grads.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:36) **Episode Intro** - Hosts introduce Lars Mittank disappearance as a frustrating mystery due to conflicting online details and Bulgarian location
2 (02:40) **Lars' Background** - Profile of 28-year-old German engineer, family man, Werder Bremen soccer fan
3 (06:00) **Golden Sands Vacation** - Week-long trip to Bulgarian Black Sea resort with 3-5 friends
4 (10:33) **Bar Altercation** - Group watches World Cup at Rok Bar; verbal clash with Bayern fans
5 (12:51) **Ear Injury Diagnosis** - Ruptured eardrum confirmed by specialist; prescribed high-dose cefuroxime antibiotic
6 (15:36) **Friends Depart** - Buddies fly home; Lars stays, books seedy Hotel Color Varna due to summer crowds
7 (19:25) **Paranoid Phone Calls** - Evening calls/texts to mom: blocks card, hides on hill from 4 men trying to kill him

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Show Notes

In 2014, a young German man walked into an airport in Bulgaria with a flight booked, then suddenly ran out leaving all his posessions behind, never to be heard from again. This classic episode tells the story of Lars Mittank.

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