Helicopters search for two missing children in Tokat

TOKAT – Anadolu Agency

AA Photo

More than 200 police officers, soldiers and locals backed by helicopters continued a search on Jan. 5 for two children in the northern province of Tokat who went missing more than a week ago.

Bayram Erol, 8, and Dursun Kaan Taşçı, 5, went missing in the Reşadiye district of Tokat on Dec. 29, 2015. The pair was last seen in security camera footage that showed them walking by a playground near their houses.

Divers continued to search the nearby Kelkit River where relatives said the two often went fishing while other teams searched a local reservoir and woods.

Hüseyin Taşçı, the uncle of the 5-year-old missing boy, told reporters that the family alerted authorities after the children did not return home at midday on Dec. 29, 2015.

Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy parliamentary group head and Tokat Deputy Coşkun Çakır said Jan. 4 that officials were evaluating all options in the case, adding that they did not have any leads as to the whereabouts of the two children. 

“Officials focused on the Kelkit River and divers are searching a 30-kilometer area. No clue has been found yet. A police helicopter has searched the area as well,” he said.

He said kidnapping was another option that officials had been considering. “Kidnapping is another option. These are all possibilities.”