Hualien police deny accusations of delayed search for missing German national

Taipei, Aug. 14 (CNA) Taiwanese police on Wednesday rejected allegations they had dragged their feet in searching for Ralf Klausnitzer, a German professor who went missing in late March after arriving earlier that month as part of an academic exchange program.

The Hualien Police Bureau has conducted seven search and rescue operations since Tamkang University first reported Klausnitzer missing on April 2, but has not yet located him, bureau official Chen Yi-wen (陳奕彣) told reporters.

The 57-year-old literature professor, who was invited by the university in New Taipei to give a lecture in late March, traveled to Hualien after completing the assignment and spent the night of March 25 in a local hotel, Chen said.

Klausnitzer's last sighting was recorded by surveillance footage on March 26, showing him exiting a bus at Taroko Gorge's Tianxiang Village at 9:04 a.m., entering Xiangde Temple at 9:27 a.m., and leaving 20 minutes later, according to Chen.

Although the police organized a search and rescue mission on April 2, it was suspended the following day after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake in the Hualien region, which killed at least 18 people and injured over 1,100, Chen added.

Rescue efforts resumed after power was restored and rockfalls removed, with multiple visits to local residents conducted in April and May, he said.

Each mission lasted five to six hours, including searches along the riverbed using drones, but no trace of Klausnitzer was found, Chen said.

The police also released Klausnitzer's image in May, calling for any tips from the public to restart the search, but no new leads have been received so far, according to Chen.

Both Taiwanese and German authorities' handling of the case has apparently upset Klausnitzer's parents, who detailed their concerns in a letter published in the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung on Aug. 12.

In the article, Klausnitzer's parents questioned why the search did not begin earlier, given that the hotel their son stayed at must have become aware of his disappearance on March 27.

Another complication hindering the search is the lack of formal diplomatic ties between Germany and Taiwan, Klausnitzer's parents pointed out, criticizing the lukewarm response by the German Federal Foreign Office.

According to the article, Klausnitzer's two sons arrived in Hualien on June 9 to survey the area and provide DNA samples to the police, but were left with troubling questions that led them to wonder "whether any information was being withheld."

On Wednesday, the Hualien police reiterated that anyone with information on Klausnitzer's whereabouts should contact them.