Germany. Church bells at night: A missing senior was found locked inside the temple
The ringing of bells in the middle of the night woke up the residents and services of a German town. These weren't ghosts but a 90-year-old man who had been locked in a church. Earlier, the police had been searching for the man for several hours. He had been "right next door" the entire time.
5:11 PM EDT, July 21, 2024
A resident of a nursing home in Apolda, Germany, was accidentally locked in the local church on Saturday evening.
The German agency DPA reported on Sunday that the 90-year-old called for help by ringing the church bells.
They couldn't find him anywhere. He had been locked in the church the whole time
The 90-year-old's disappearance was reported by staff at the nursing home after he did not return to the facility at the agreed time on Saturday evening. Earlier, the elderly man had attended an event at the church in Apolda.
Despite extensive searches involving six patrol cars, the 90-year-old could not be found.
Ringing bells in the middle of the night
When the church bells rang at the unusual hour of 9:15 PM Eastern Time on Sunday, the shift manager at the local police station became suspicious and immediately sent officers to check the church. The officers heard a man's voice behind the church doors and called one of the priests to open the building.
It turned out that the missing senior was inside, having been accidentally locked in on Saturday evening. The nursing home resident wanted to call for help, so he rang the church bells at night.
The elderly man was unharmed, and the police officers escorted him back to his residence.
