08.06.2025 13:51
Search efforts are ongoing for 14-year-old Burak Koçak, who went missing after leaving home to go to school on the day before the holiday in the Orhaneli district of Bursa. The search operations, conducted by a team of 100 people, also involve the use of drones and trained dogs.
Burak Koçak, an 8th-grade student living in the Altıntaş neighborhood of Orhaneli district, who attends Hacı Mustafa Öden Imam Hatip Middle School in the district center with a transportation system, left home in the early morning hours of June 5 to go to school.
When his family learned that Koçak did not take the service from the neighborhood square and did not go to school, they searched the area when he did not return home by the evening. The family found Koçak's school bag in a shed in the garden of Altıntaş Primary School at the exit of the neighborhood and reported the situation to the District Gendarmerie Command. Upon the notification, gendarmerie teams started search operations in the area.
A 100-PERSON TEAM IS SEARCHING
The search efforts for Koçak are being carried out by a 100-person team consisting of AFAD, JAK, gendarmerie, marine police diving team, UEDAŞ, Yıldırım Municipality AKE, NAK, UMKE, ANDA, İNDAK, MAGDER, İHH, and KUMDAK. The teams, scanning the area around Altıntaş neighborhood with drones, 5 search dogs, and 16 vehicles, are trying to find traces belonging to Burak Koçak.
Orhaneli District Governor Muhammed Furkan Tuna and Orhaneli Mayor Ali Osman Tayır received information from the authorities regarding the operations.
FAMILY CUT BURAK'S HAIR AFTER NOT LIKING HIS HAIRCUT A DAY BEFORE
It was learned that a day before he went missing, Burak went to a barber in the neighborhood with his friends to get a holiday haircut. However, his mother Hanife Koçak (50) and his uncle, who did not like the hairstyle he got, reacted by saying, 'Son, why didn't you get a proper haircut?' and then completely shaved Burak's hair with the hair clipper at home. It was suggested that Burak was psychologically negatively affected after this incident with his family.
SECURITY CAMERA FOOTAGE EMERGED
Meanwhile, images recorded on Burak's mobile phone showing his hairstyle and security camera footage of him walking with his backpack on the morning he went missing have emerged.
FATHER PASSED AWAY 3 YEARS AGO
It was learned that Burak Koçak's father, Bekir Koçak (70), passed away from a heart attack in 2022, and that his mother Hanife Koçak has one daughter from her first marriage, while his father Bekir Koçak has two children from his first marriage, and Burak is the only common child of the couple.
MOTHER KOÇAK NARRATED THE EVENTS
Hanife Koçak, who narrated the events of the day Burak went missing and the day before to DHA reporter, said, "I sent Burak to school at 07:15, and he left home. We learned that Burak was missing when his principal called us to the school. We waited for him to come home, but when he didn't, we reported to the gendarmerie and started searching for my son. Burak is not a talkative child; he is calm and introverted. He had never left home without telling anyone before. Burak is attached to me because his father is not around. We warned Burak together with his uncle. We said, 'Why did you do your hair like this, son?' The school principal had called us to the school because Burak had emptied the fire extinguishers that had their pins removed for repair. We were a bit angry with him about this, but we did not hit him. We shaved his hair with the hair clipper because of the haircut. He must have been upset about this situation. His sisters are also here. If Burak had come or if they had seen him, they would have definitely informed us. Burak wanted to be a mechanical engineer. He was an 8th-grade student and a good student. I don't know where he went. His friends found his bag in the coal shed of the primary school in our neighborhood. He had school clothes on and a hat on his head," she said.