Beyhan Mutlu found out he was reported missing in a bizarre way. The 50-year-old resident of Bursa, Turkey reportedly joined a search for someone and discovered the search party was looking for him. Mutlu was allegedly drunk when he joined the search party and found out his family reported him missing.
Mutlu’s family was reported missing in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Sept. 28 after they could not get in contact with him for several hours, reports Daily Sabah. The man later met up with some of his friends and went to a nearby forest while drunk. In the forest, he reportedly found a group helping local authorities search for someone, who turned out to be him.
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After asking others who they were searching for, Mtulu heard someone shouting his name, reports The Sunday Times. “Who are we looking for? I am here,” Mutlu reportedly said. He later told the Daily Sabah he just changed his phone number, which is why no one could reach him.
“I am a construction worker in Inegöl. I came to Çayyaka to work in construction. I had a few drinks with some friends. I left them around 2 a.m. at night. We were staying at a friends’ villa in an area close to the construction site. I went to one of the villas and slept,” Mutlu later told Daily Sabah. “When one of my friends couldn’t find me, he reported me as missing to the gendarmerie. There really was no need for that.”
Mutlu gave authorities a police statement, and then authorities drove him home. He believes he is “paying” for his friends’ mistakes though. “What happened is all like a joke,” he said.
Mutlu can at least find comfort in the fact that he’s not the only missing person to “find” himself. Back in 2012, a tourist visiting Iceland was reported missing after she got separated from her tour group, according to CBS News. The woman then participated in a police search, which was finally called off after the search party realized that the woman had joined them in the search for herself.
