According to several Swedish true-crime blogs, the morning of Sunday, April 16th, 1967, began in the Larsson home as it did many Sunday mornings before church. The family had just awoken to prepare for the weekly Sunday service at their local church on the secluded island of Sirkö, where they lived in Sweden’s Småland region.
Alvar awoke at 7:30 a.m., ate some food, and got dressed on what appeared to be a routine morning. However, all critical clues to solve this mystery lie within this seemingly innocuous Sunday morning. Alvar asked his mother if he might go for a walk before they left for church. His mother let him do it, thinking little of it, on the condition that he pick up some firewood from the woodshed on his way back. Alvar would never be seen again alive.
His family grew increasingly concerned when he did not return. Finally, his mother called the neighbors, asking for signs of Alvar. After a while, his father alerted a small group of neighbors, and they set out to look for the youngster — perhaps he lost track of time?
Anxiety quickly reached a fever pitch, and the islanders called the police at 2:30 p.m. Hours, days, weeks, and eventually, years would pass with no sign of Alvar. The search party would thoroughly comb the island and its surroundings in the days and weeks ahead by boat, helicopters, and, at its peak, a 150-person search party, yet to no avail. The 13-year-old Alvar Larsson was nowhere to be found.
He left his bike and pocket money behind, so could he have run away from home? Did something happen to him? Was he kidnapped? How could a young man from such a small, tight-knit community vanish into thin air?
