Brian Boyle, 22, the Heidelberg DODDS student teacher reported missing Saturday, has been found in a Karlsruhe, Germany, hospital. (Courtesy of DODDS Europe)
BAMBERG, Germany — A student teacher at Heidelberg Middle School is missing, officials said.
Brian Boyle, 22, was last seen at 7:30 a.m. Saturday when he left his apartment in Patrick Henry Village to go for a bike ride, according to a written statement from Department of Defense Dependents Schools.
Boyle was supposed to catch a plane to the States on Saturday evening but he never arrived for his scheduled ride to the airport. His roommate then initiated a search for him, said Regina Abrigo, a public affairs spokeswoman for U.S. Army Garrison Baden-Württemberg.
“We are doing everything, we can possibly do to find him,” said Bob Purtiman, a DODDS-Europe spokesman. DODDS is working with the military police, German officials and customs agencies to locate Boyle, he said.
“We’ve been talking with the Polizei, and we are 100 percent confident that they are looking for him,” Purtiman said of the German police.
But there seems to be a dispute regarding the process.
German police say they cannot use all the tools they have to search for him until an official missing persons report is filed, and they do not have one.
Purtiman said that he was told by Heidelberg police that only a family member could file a missing persons report. Asked if DODDS had tried, Purtiman said “Yes.”
Heidelberg police spokesman Harald Kurzer said he “doubts” that the school system was told such a restriction exists.
The airline confirmed that Boyle did not make his 9:45 p.m. flight, a release from the Department of Defense Education Activity said Monday.
U.S. military police and German police are searching possible bike trails he may have taken, said Abrigo.
Boyle’s father and brother were contacted and are traveling to Germany, Abrigo said.
Boyle may have been wearing an orange T-shirt with the Oklahoma state logo on it and a black hooded sweatshirt with the same logo.
DODDS hopes Boyle will contact them immediately.
Anyone with information on Boyle is asked to notify the military police at 06221-57-114.
Stars and Stripes reporter Marcus Klöckner contributed to this report.
blottenbergerd@estripes.osd.mil
