Every so often, a story comes along that makes one question one’s own sanity. It forces us to look at every tiny detail of the tale and examine them for what might have been the cause of the strangeness that ultimately came about from each one.
It began innocently enough. It was a vacation amongst friends, a good time was had by all to a wonderful, exotic place. Yet what came after this run-of-the-mill holiday, was something that no one that knew Lars Mitank ever expected; least of all Lars Mittank himself…
Bulgarian Vacation
28-year-old Lars Mittank of Germany was your average guy. He was friendly, for the most part, outgoing, and a die-hard sports fan. This last bit is what ultimately got him into trouble, of course, but that is neither here nor there. It was summer 2014 and Lars and his good friends were on vacation in Bulgaria.
Seaside Motel
Many may not be aware but Bulgaria is not the harsh wintery landscape everyone assumes when looking on a map. They have beaches, sandy, beautiful ones, and resorts too, One of those, the Golden Sands Resort sits on the border of the Black Sea, and that was where Lars and his friends decided to stay…
An Argument
On July 6, 2014, Lars and his friends were hanging out on the beach, discussing football, one of their favorite sports. Lars was a fan of the football club Werder Bremen, but the four men who overheard him talking were fans of the Bayern Munich. Dissenting opinions soon escalated into a full-blown argument and Lars got the short end of the stick.
Several Injuries
The fight broke out, Lars fell, and the men were pulled off one another. Lars was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for a supposedly ruptured eardrum. Thankfully, he only managed to sustain minor injuries as a result of the scuffle. At least, that’s what the doctors at the Bulgarian hospital thought anyway…
Prescription Drugs
Lars went back to the hotel with a prescription for an antibiotic called Cefuroxime. He was prescribed 500 mg tablets of the drug and it was recommended that he take it easy for the remainder of his trip. Unfortunately, the remainder of his trip wasn’t very long. Lars was set to fly home in a few days with the rest of his mates. This presented a problem.
Doctor’s Orders
The doctors had made it clear that Lars Mittank was not allowed to fly until he was sufficiently recovered. His friends offered to lose out on the tickets and buy new ones after staying with him for a few more days. Lars knew that his friends had to be back at work, that they shouldn’t have to lose out on money for something as simple as a blown eardrum. He insisted he stay by himself…
Conditions Improve
At first, Lars’ decision to remain in Bulgaria on his own didn’t seem like a bad one. They all checked out of the expensive beach resort, his friends flew out, and he checked into a much more affordable hotel for the remaining days of his “vacation.” His head was feeling better too. The medicine seemed to be helping.
Something’s Wrong
However, barely a day after his friends left, Lars Mittank began to feel odd. He became nervous, even erratic at times, and began to walk sleeplessly around the hotel at night. A recording of his erratic behavior was captured by the hotel’s security cameras, but that only showed the very tip of the iceberg…
Calling Mom
At one point, Lars called his mother from the hotel room in a mad panic. He told her that he was certain that he was being followed by four men. They had followed him to the motel and were watching him. He asked his mother to cancel his credit card as well but didn’t explain why. Had it been stolen by these supposed men?
Side Effects
In addition to his fear of being stalked, Lars told his mother that he worried something was wrong with the prescription he had been given. He wondered if the drugs they were giving him were making him see things. He also seemed to think that these drugs had been given to him on purpose. Yet before he could delve more deeply into it with his mother, he hung up…
Flying Home
The next day, Lars Mittank decided that he’d had enough of Bulgaria and wanted to fly home. He went to Varna Airport, the same airport that served the Golden Sands resorts, and prepared to get as far away from the sandy beaches, quack doctors, and violent stalking thugs as he could. The last video of him was taken by the airport surveillance.
Taking Off
A few moments after the security cameras captured him walking around the airport with his luggage, he vanished, bolting off in the opposite direction and dropping everything he was carrying; including his cell phone. He ran from the airport, across the parking lot, and into a nearby forest. That was the last time anyone had ever seen Lars Mittank, but it was not the last time the world would hear of him…
Disappeared
It has been several years since Lars Mittank disappeared and no one has seen any sign of him. He has not contacted anyone either, which of course makes sense since he left his cell phone behind. There are many theories as to what happened to Lars, though few have come to any direct conclusions.
Clues
To find out what happened to Lars, we must first reconstruct that day. Lars was dropped off at Varna airport a little after 6 am via taxi. It is believed that he had shared the cab with another passenger, who described him as having large, dilated pupils. To them, it must have looked like Lars was on drugs, but it could have been due to a head injury…
Who Were They?
There is also the theory that the four men Lars believed to have been seeing may have actually been real after all. Though considering the previous attack he faced from four men, the one that got him the head injury in the first place, he could simply have imagined them. If they were real though, who were they? And what could they have wanted?
Come Back
Now, it is unlikely that the four men were the same football thugs that he quarreled with on the beach. Chances are good that these ghosts were just born of either a more severe head injury than was previously believed or a simple psychotic break. Ruling out thugs, though, it may have been something to do with his medicine after all…
Overdosed
Lars’ paranoia notwithstanding, it would be foolish to overlook the possibility that his medicine was responsible for his mental anguish. He may have accidentally overdosed on his Cefuroxime pills, which could account for his hallucinations. The recommended dose for men his age was 250 mg every 12 hours. He was given 500 mg tablets, double the dose. More than one could have had adverse effects.
Symptoms
Other side effects of Cefuroxime include hyperactivity, irritability, and restlessness. Check, check, check. All of this odd behavior he was exhibiting and his paranoia, could all be linked back to the drugs, especially if he had a worse head injury than previously believed.. So now we know the cause of the mental instability, what happened after?
Pitfalls
We now know that Lars ran into the woods because of the overdose. His hallucinations drove him to it. Unfortunately, the Bulgarian wilderness is as inhospitable as any other place in the world. There is every chance Lars could have tripped, fell down a hole, ran into a tree, or been attacked and eaten by a wild animal.
Baffling Disappearance
We may never know what actually happened to Lars Miitank because his body has never been found. Of course, the absence of a thing doesn’t mean that it is gone. Perhaps he survived, lost his memory and is living somewhere in Bulgaria even now. It may seem unlikely, but it’s just as possible as all the other impossibilities in his story.
