And today no traces have been found in the search for 13-year-old Nikolay from the village of Konare, the mayor of the settlement Stancho Stefanov told BTA. The search has been going on for eight days, and over a hundred servicemen with equipment from the Bulgarian Army joined the field today. Ministry of Interior officials were also on site, and the goal is to once again go through all the areas, even though they have been repeatedly bypassed.
The acting Minister of Interior Atanas Ilkov was also in Konare this morning. He assured that the search will not stop. We will work until the last moment, when we have hope that we can find the child, Ilkov said. The minister emphasized that so far all possible resources, equipment (drones, helicopter) and available personnel have been used in the search. The teams included people from the Executive Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture, the State Forestry, volunteers from Pernik, as well as other volunteers, all of whom responded to the need to be here and help, Ilkov added. According to him, they all worked around the clock and very diligently.
Nikolay Iliev has Down syndrome and has been missing since December 17. He disappeared from his home, and according to his mother Denka Ilieva, everything happened in minutes. She says that he is trusting and would go with a stranger. So far, police and fire teams, gendarmerie teams and hundreds of volunteers from all over the country have joined the search. A helicopter was also sent to the scene to inspect the more difficult-to-reach areas, drones with thermal cameras were used, as well as tracking dogs, and divers searched nearby reservoirs.
On the evening of December 22, the family's dog was found in the village, which disappeared at the same time as the child. However, no trace of the boy has been found so far. The police are working on all possible versions - from the child getting lost to the fact that he became the victim of an accident or a serious criminal act.
The search for the boy will continue tomorrow.