They revealed new details and hidden details of the story that did not leave anyone indifferent – the story of Sashko from Pernik. He led to the largest manhunt ever, uniting thousands to search for the 12-year-old boy. Together with the child’s rescuers, our team proceeds step by step in the search until we reach the place where Sashko was found.
November 11 – in the area above the Prophylactorium above Pernik Sashko is having his usual walk with his father. He parked the car at a crossroads. As the child walks, however, he disappears without a trace. A complaint was filed and an operational headquarters in the police force was immediately established. The search for twelve-year-old Alexander begins. Already that evening, hundreds of people make their way to the place. In the following days and nights, the surroundings of Pernik were patrolled by thousands of policemen, specialists and volunteers. Searchable by water and air.
“The child was searched both in Pernik itself and around the mountain: reservoirs searched nearby, all caves, old tunnels, wells, overgrown areas, people hired with chainsaws, in impassable places, overgrown thorns to go down , the mountain rescuers made a descent with ropes so as not to fall. Almost centimeter by centimeter, this mountain was searched,” Angel Papalezov from the GDNP reminded Nova TV.
The hope at first is that the baby will appear on its own. He’s been lost before. And while in the early hours the police lead the story of a lost child, they soon begin to investigate all possible hypotheses. The police checked the criminal contingent in the mining town, all buildings nearby. In the forensics field there were both people who have evidence of paedophilic tendencies, and people with abducted children and men living alone. All are suspects. Including the father of the child. And although there is no proof, the man was subjected to both verbal and physical assaults. Experts from the Institute of Psychology of the Ministry of the Interior are also involved in the investigation. The father undergoes a lie detector test.
The search for Alexander continues, but to no avail. Despite the dozens of reports that arrive every day, there is no trace of the child. For more than a week, the persistent efforts of thousands of people yielded no results.
Surprisingly, on the seventh day, the father announces a reward of 100 thousand BGN for finding Sashko. The search continues at the same pace. Thousands of people are looking for Sashko around the clock, albeit already with a dose of desperation. Volunteers Vesco and Milko, who are part of the Pernik hang-gliding and paragliding club, set off with this attitude for the ninth consecutive day. Again they head to Golo Bardo. Supposedly, it was bypassed, but it is decided to check it again.
The two separate. Vesco continues on the road and Milko searches on the opposite hill. The epilogue is right here on the ninth day of the quest at 2:25pm.
“I can still see him there right now – excited. I saw a gray jacket and thought it was a rag that someone had thrown away, because we found everything. And the next moment I looked, I saw he was wearing jeans. L ‘I looked – I stood like that for 10 seconds and prepared for the worst, because for many days,” the child’s rescuer recalls and adds: “He was lying, curled up, legs bent to the side and hands in his pants – apparently for I ran, touched his shoulder, he looked at me, I said, “We’re here to help you.”
The boy asks for water. They carry him up the steep hill in their arms. With an off-road jeep they transport him to the place where the ambulance awaits him. Sashko was admitted to the intensive care unit of “Pirogov” in relatively good health. According to the doctors, the boy’s indicators are close to normal. Sashko hasn’t been hungry these nine days. He also drank water.
Alexander was found 4 kilometers from where he disappeared. There is a fountain as well as fruit trees and bushes. According to Milko, Sashko has unlocked the self-preservation instinct. He doesn’t know if it’s because of his illness, but claims that he helped himself.
So far, all the facts prove that Sashko survived alone in the mountains for nine days and eight nights. Preliminary investigations into the kidnapping are underway. There is so far no evidence of other people’s involvement in the child’s disappearance. No foreign DNA was found on his body or clothing, experts say.
9799
25
