His son died alone in the forest: "Police prioritized the search"

- The last time we talked on the phone was on Saturday morning and he sounded happy and cheerful. But on Sunday he could not reach him and he did not come home as planned, says Ole Bryde, father of the boy.

The boy, who is a resident of Skåne, had traveled to Småland to test the zip line in Klavreström. The idea was that he would come home on Sunday, but he never showed up. On Sunday evening, November 3, the 16-year-old was reported missing to the police.

From home, his dad Ole Bryde accesses his son's mobile and google account. He then learns that his son is about 500 meters from the zipline track north of Klavreström and that he used the travel planner to go home.

These are the last digital traces from the 16-year-old, which the father hands over to police on Monday, the day after the boy was reported missing.

On Monday, police search for the 16-year-old, including dogs, but later in the evening the search is interrupted as the police assess that "there is no immediate danger to the boy's life or health" and that "the boy stays away voluntarily".

- We made an overall assessment based on the weather, tips from the public who had seen the boy in the area, equipment he had with him and his habit of staying in the woods, says Calle Persson, spokesperson for the police south.

Days after the boy was found, SVT talked to Thomas Delerud, who is the group manager of all watchmen in the South. And he is then adamant that the police made a correct assessment in the initial phase, when it was not considered that it was a danger to the boy's life.

- This because he was used to being in the forest, had equipment and a telephone with him and that he had some supplies. He is also 16 years old and had no physical problems, he tells SVT.

The 16-year-old was a scout and carried a large backpack (85L), sleeping bag, sleeping bag and a powerbank for the mobile. He had no storm kitchen, no freeze-dried food, and no tent.

In retrospect, Ole Bryde has been told by people on the spot that his son was staying overnight in an open storage room adjacent to the facility. Early Sunday morning he should then have set off for nearby woods. Then the information ends.

Ole Bryde believes that the police position on Monday became fatal for the search for his son.

- It was the attitude we then met in the village and its surroundings that my son kept hidden voluntarily. There was nothing strange about it. Only one boy had decided to hike in the woods for a few days. That my son would stay hidden voluntarily, where did they get this from? ”Says Ole Bryde.

The search was stepped down and completed on Monday and the promised helicopter with a thermal camera did not show up. The forest in the area is difficult and difficult to find and the helicopter would have been a great help, says Ole Bryde.

- I have experience from the rescue and know that a helicopter with a thermal camera had found him right away, he says.

As a rule, Missing people organize their efforts based on the police's assessment.

- We often go by the police's assessment and we also experienced this as a voluntary disappearance, says Ann-Louise Gustafsson, operations manager for Missing people in Kronoberg.

However, the organization revised its assessment as the days went by without finding any trace of the 16-year-old.

On Tuesday, November 5, the boy has been reported missing for two days and the first snow of the year falls in Kronoberg. Ole Bryne knows it is in a hurry and hires his own drone but fails to make it fly and the whole attempt fails.

Missing people, volunteers and relatives are looking for search dogs, drones and motorcycles.

On Tuesday, November 12, eight days after the boy was reported missing, he was found dead in the forest by a person from the Swedish rescue drone organization. The body was only a few kilometers from the cable car.

It is not clear what the boy died of and it is unclear what happened to the boy in the forest while he was gone, but the police suspect no crime.

Two weeks after the boy left his home in Skåne, the family is on the spot and is looking for the boy's backpack, which one suspects is left in the forest north of Klavreström.

- I think he wants it in his last trip.

- I want to find the backpack, says the father.