The boy, identified only as Joe, went missing on June 17 in Oldenburg. Investigators spent days searching for him in vain until someone heard him whining under a manhole cover, about 330 meters from the boy’s house, on June 25. Rescuers found the boy naked, frozen and dehydrated in the sewer, but otherwise intact. His clothes were later found elsewhere in the sewer. Police are examining a storm sewer on June 25, 2022, in Lower Saxony, Oldenburg. An eight-year-old boy from Oldenburg, who had been missing for eight days, was found alive in a storm drain. Andre van Elten / image alliance via Getty Images In a statement on Tuesday, Oldenburg police said their investigation had concluded that the boy had probably climbed into a sewer pipe near his home and then disappeared into narrow tunnels. Witnesses who claimed to have seen the boy outside the tunnels or in the company of an adult were thought to have made a mistake. The boy, who remains in hospital, has not yet been questioned by police, police said. Police said the search involved “a wide variety of police stations across the country”, as well as firefighters and “countless civilians involved in the search for Joe”. “I am very impressed by the great commitment of the last few days,” Oldenburg Police Chief Johann Kühme said in a statement. “I would like to thank all the main and voluntary forces and people who did everything with empathy and high personal effort – until late at night – to find the missing child.” Damian Bodde (r) and Marc Meyerholz prepare a robot for use on June 25, 2022, in Oldenburg, Germany. Eight days after his disappearance, eight-year-old Joe was discovered in a well in Oldenburg. Martin Remmers / image alliance via Getty Images
