Overview

• Pawlos Dawit Gerezgiher, a six-year-old autistic boy, disappeared from his special-needs school in Weilburg on March 25 and was found dead in the Lahn River on April 20.
• An autopsy confirmed that Pawlos drowned shortly after his disappearance, bringing a tragic end to a weeks-long search involving police, volunteers, and specialized resources.
• The Limburg prosecutor's office has launched a death investigation to determine if there were breaches of supervisory duty at the school, with no specific individuals named as suspects yet.
• Search efforts were autism-sensitive, involving tailored strategies to avoid startling the boy, public alerts, and participation from hundreds of personnel, including Bundeswehr reconnaissance support.
• A video showed Pawlos briefly interacting with a passerby who escorted him off a busy road and called emergency services before the boy ran off again.