'It’s all like a joke': Turkish man who searched for himself
Beyhan Mutlu (C) and rescuers are seen in this photo, Bursa, Turkey, Sept. 28, 2021 (DHA Photo)


We have an update from Beyhan Mutlu of northwestern Bursa province’s Inegöl district, the man who disappeared and then joined his own search party.

Mutlu had wandered into the forest in Inegöl while intoxicated and then tried to assist the gendarmerie lead search party who was searching for him. Mutlu, whose surname coincidently translates to "happy" in Turkish, had made many people across the world laugh.

The 50-year-old man, who had shouted, "It's me" when the search party called out "Beyhan Mutlu" while searching for him, and who only then discovered that he was the person they were looking for, spoke to Daily Sabah's sister paper Sabah.

"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 explained.

"When one of my friends couldn't find me, he reported me as missing to the gendarmerie. There really was no need for that.

"I had changed my phone. That's why the gendarmerie could not reach me when they called. I woke up at around 5 a.m. I thought there was an accident on the road. I saw the search party looking for a missing person. I also took part in the search.

"Then they called my name, 'Beyhan Mutlu'. I said, 'Oh, that's me.'

"Basically, I'm paying for my friends' mistakes. What happened is all like a joke," he lamented.

Mutlu needs to choose his friends wisely it seems.