Search efforts to find a missing eight-year-old in Turkey’s southeastern Diyarbakır province have entered their sixth day. Narin Güran, a resident of the province’s Bağlar district, went missing after leaving a Quran course last Thursday (August 22). Authorities now believe the young girl was kidnapped after a sandal belonging to Narin was found three kilometers from her family home.
Narin Güran was last seen exiting a Quran course around 15:30 Thursday afternoon. After her family was unable to reach her, a group of local villagers joined in the search.
After these efforts were unsuccessful, authorities were notified of Narin’s disappearance and local police, disaster response, medical personnel, and search dogs were deployed in the area.
An underwater search team was also deployed to search the irrigation canals in the area, and a police helicopter also aided in the search.
These search efforts, however, failed to uncover a trace of the eight-year-old. On Saturday evening (August 24), 100 houses in the area were searched unannounced by authorities. Helicopters were once again deployed Sunday (August 25), but these efforts failed to uncover a sign of the missing child. Investigators now believe that Narin was likely kidnapped after five days of search efforts have failed to bear fruit.
The Diyarbakır Governor’s office also released a statement refuting claims circulating on social media that the body belonging to Narin had been found.
by Leo Kendrick
