“Who are we looking for? I am here.”
Authorities in Turkey were left stunned when a man turned up at a search party to find himself, thinking he was helping the group search for someone else.
According to local media organisation NTV, 50-year-old Beyhan Mutlu had been drinking with friends in the rural neighbourhood of Çayyaka near the city of İnegöl when he wandered into the woods and never came back.
Fearing for his wellbeing, his friends called the police who rang search and rescue teams to help locate Mutlu.
As word spread of his disappearance, residents from the neighbourhood were quick to join the search efforts.
However, it turned out that one of those who joined the search party was Mutlu himself.
It was only as those searching for him began to call out his name that Mutlu asked: “Who are we looking for? I am here.”
Cue surprise and shock from all concerned.
A tweet from a Turkish news organisation said that Mutlu “searched for himself for hours.”
Bursa'nın İnegöl ilçesinde, Beyhan Mutlu isimli şahıs, kendisi için başlatılan arama çalışmalarını başkası için zannederek saatlerce kendini aradı.
Ekipler, arama çalışmasıyla ilgili tutanak düzenleyip kayıp şahsı evine bıraktılar. pic.twitter.com/yhVaPSh7wY
— Vaziyet (@vaziyetcomtr) September 28, 2021
It is not clear how Mutlu managed to not realise that he was the one being searched for – or even that his friends didn’t recognise him in the search party.
All’s well that ends well though, as the man was escorted home by police before they had to write surely one of the more bizarre reports of their careers.
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