28.05.2025 15:44
Search efforts are ongoing for 10-year-old Onurcan Özdemir, who has been missing for four days in Gaziantep. Governor Çeber stated that an area of 200 kilometers has been searched, saying, "There are citizens who saw our child around 7:00 PM and are sure of it. That is important information for us. Even the smallest clue is being evaluated with the utmost sensitivity."
On May 24, in the Hasanoğlu neighborhood of the Araban district in Gaziantep, 10-year-old autistic Onurcan Özdemir went missing around 4:00 PM while visiting a pistachio orchard with his family. The situation was reported to the 112 Emergency Call Center. Following the report, AFAD, gendarmerie, and police teams were dispatched to the area. The teams began search efforts for Onurcan Özdemir.
SEARCH EFFORTS CONTINUE While volunteer search and rescue teams and security guards are supporting the teams, unmanned aerial vehicles and drones are also being used in the searches. Divers are conducting searches in the Euphrates River, and support has been requested from surrounding provinces. Commandos and volunteer organizations are also coming to the area to support the ongoing search efforts. Gaziantep Governor Kemal Çeber, along with Provincial Police Chief Celal Özcan and Provincial Gendarmerie Commander Major General Halil Şen, visited the Hasanoğlu neighborhood where the search efforts are ongoing. Here, Governor Çeber met with the father of the missing child, Murat Özdemir, and his relatives, and later held a meeting with the teams conducting the search.
"THERE IS NO CONCRETE EVIDENCE SO FAR" Governor Çeber stated, "Since Saturday at 5:00 PM, all teams have continued their work. Our nearest police station has been deployed to the area as of 5:10 PM. We have confirmed all of this with the family and our own systems. There are an average of 500 professional teams daily. These are being coordinated by our AFAD, along with our gendarmerie, police, and many volunteer NGOs, who are conducting professional search activities in areas such as water and caves from neighboring provinces. In fact, we have a search team of about 1000 people, including individuals from the villages. We are also supporting these efforts with technical devices. We have one UAV constantly in the air. Our UAVs also have night vision capabilities. For the past 3 days, our UAV has been in the air, changing with its backup as its time expires. In addition to the UAV, we have 8 drones, 4 of which have night vision capabilities. We have increased the number of tracking dogs from 4 to 6. We have about 60 vehicles. We are utilizing all necessary resources and capabilities. Additionally, we have 2 boats operating on the Euphrates River. We have 2 crisis centers both in our provincial center and here. We are monitoring the situation in real-time. Not only I and our provincial teams but also our Minister of Interior and our Minister of Family and Social Policies are personally following the situation. And since the moment we evaluated our child as missing, we have not found any concrete evidence to date," he said.
FOCUS HAS BEEN PLACED ON 2 REPORTS Governor Çeber noted that they are evaluating every detail, saying, "How far can a child of this age and with these characteristics walk in a day? What happens if he goes this route, what happens if he goes that way, all of these are being calculated very professionally, and so far, an area of 200 square kilometers has been searched. Some parts of this area have been searched multiple times. But it will continue. With hope, without losing our hope, we will find our child safe and sound and reunite him with his family," he said.
Governor Çeber stated, "Of course, there are 2 individuals who saw our child around 7:00 PM and are sure of it. This is important data for us. Because many individuals who claim to have seen or recognized him have been contacted. Even the slightest clue is evaluated with the utmost sensitivity. But these two stand out. The information they provided is valuable to us. One is a citizen from a village in our Halfeti district. The other is a citizen from a village below here. They are also guiding us significantly. We are continuing the search with all our strength," he said.