The 43-year-old livestock farmer Thodoris Selemetzidis, who lived in Tyrnavos and was also involved in electrical work, has been missing since Thursday, May 12, 2022.
His tracks were lost in Larissa where he had gone on some errands. That afternoon he visited a friend at his house, which was near the local bus station.
According to him, he left there to return to Tyrnavos with the KTEL bus as usual. The police investigation revealed that he was never boarded.
The strange thing is that his personal belongings, his mobile phone and his wallet, were found thrown in the parking lot of KTEL Larisa and the whole scene seemed staged.
Relatives say his friend was inconsistent when he described to them and the police how he went missing.
On the one hand, he said that he fell asleep himself and when he woke up he did not find him at home and on the other hand that he heard him make some phone calls and then leave for work.
The family of the missing person, worried about his fate, turned to “Tunnel” in an attempt to find out the truth.
“Our friend said he woke up and couldn’t find him…”
A close friend of the missing person, Giorgos Saltzidis, is the man who started the whole search effort, mobilizing the authorities. He is moving with what he says to the “Tunnel” camera from the place where his mobile phone and wallet were found at the Larissa bus station.
“Thodoris was a quiet child. He grew up poor. He came from a farming family. He lost two brothers. His parents also passed away. He suffered. Professionally, I would say that he was engaged in animal husbandry, with what his family had left him”, he characteristically said.
“It all started when at this point a person from his wider family found his wallet and handed it over to the son. The child called his father all day on Saturday, but he did not answer. On Sunday he received a call from his cell phone and picked it up saying “come father”. They answered him “I’m not your dad, we found the cell phone at the Larissa bus station on a bench”. The mobile phone and the wallet are currently in the possession of the authorities”, added Mr. Saltzidis, while also referring to the investigations carried out.
“The wife called the missing man’s friend who lives down here and he was the last one to see him. He replied that he had visited him on the 12th of the month. According to the words of his friend, he woke up around four thirty and he was already gone, and he does not know anything, as he lost track of him since then. They said that he was eaten and thrown from a bridge in Tyrnavos. We searched, but in vain because we did not find any evidence. Back here is a river, the tributary of Pinios and we searched to see if we could spot something, an object, a blouse or a shoe, anything. Because we have seen too much, I believe he is not alive. We just want to know where he is, where he is, he also has the right to bury him with his parents in the village and let his soul rest in peace”, concluded his friend.
The show also tracked down and spoke to other witnesses, walkers and taxi drivers to see if they knew anything about the disappearance, but none had seen the slightest bit, as if the earth had opened up and swallowed him…
He went missing from his friend’s house…
Mrs. Fani is the ex-wife of the missing Thodoris Selemetzidis, however their relations remained good. He speaks to “Tunnel” from Germany where he has been living permanently for the last few years with their son.
“We had communication because of the child. I had taken the child with me to Germany, he returned at some point to do his military service and had contact with his father. It has been over ten months since the day she disappeared. One day later, a relative of ours had gone out with a friend in Larissa and found his wallet in a parking lot near the KTEL bus station. From then on I knew something was up. In addition to the wallet, his mobile phone was also found, but not the fanny pack he was wearing when he went missing. On May 15, my child suddenly sees a call from his dad’s cell phone. It was a couple that passed by the KTEL and they found it. He had also expressed his desire to come to Germany with us, so in no way are we talking about someone who intended to disappear. I just hope he’s okay and found,” she concluded, visibly upset.
“I want him to be found no matter what…”
Sakis Selemetzidis was in Tyrnavos at the time of his father’s disappearance.
“I was informed about the disappearance around May 15 when I got his cell phone from the two people who found it in Larissa. Then my mother informed me”, he told a journalist of “Tunel”.
He also talked about the contact he had with his father’s friend, who saw him last.
“His friend only took me to ask me if I learned anything or if I know where he is… All I want is in whatever condition he is, to be found,” he concluded emotionally.
“I found his wallet and had fun…”
The “Tunnel” located and spoke with the relative of the missing man, Thodoris Selemtzidis, who accidentally found his wallet in a parking lot at the Larissa bus station.
“I happened to find it myself. It was late afternoon, Friday the 13th, and it hadn’t gotten dark yet. I was with another kid and we were going to something opening. We just went to park there and I said to the other kid “sit down I found a wallet, let’s give it to the Police” and he says “don’t you open it so we can see whose it is?” As soon as I saw the identity card, I was amused, “this can’t be done” I say. We definitely got it at first, then we found out what had happened,” said the witness.
What is surprising is the fact that it is not a robbery as some have suggested with the staged scene, since money was found in the wallet.
“He had money, but it was hidden. It wasn’t in the positions where the money goes. You had to look hard to find them. I immediately called his son. Our minds didn’t go anywhere… I was also surprised when all this happened. I say “I will find my trouble in the end””, he concluded.
“They didn’t look where they should…”
Yiannis Selemtzidis, the brother of the missing Thodoris, spoke to “Tunel” about the circumstances under which his traces were lost.
As he tells the journalist of the show, they were very close, but for ten months, since he disappeared, he has not learned anything about his fate.
“He went up to Larissa every Friday and then came back. He didn’t usually go to his friend’s house, but he might sometimes visit him and stay with him for a few days, but he always came back. I was informed about the disappearance three or four days later, because I was in the hospital. At first I thought he was somewhere and would come back, but then I found out that they found his things thrown away. I called him, he didn’t answer and then I went to the police. They took a statement from some of his friends here in Tyrnavos, now from there on…”
He also referred to the investigations carried out by the authorities.
“Nothing has been found from the cameras. The police consider it certain that he did not travel by bus, because he did not get a ticket. They found only three calls from his cell phone. To one who worked in sheep and they took a statement from him, to a friend of his from Tyrnavos and a friend of his from Larissa”, he concluded.
“I tell them what happened and they don’t listen to me…”
The missing man’s brother continues indignantly:
“I say it and say it again, no one listens to me. The police tell me they will notify you, they will notify you, but I have not received a notification.”
“Everything that happened, happened inside the house. I learned that less than a month after Theodoris disappeared, his friend left the house and was living on the benches. Is this thing happening?” he wondered.
Their parents had died many years before, leaving five siblings to fend for themselves. After the disappearance of Theodoris, there are two left, who try to find out the truth. Their first brother “passed away” from leukemia, while the second one died in a car accident.
“Find him, bury him, light a candle for him. It’s a shame because time will be closed,” concluded his brother.
The “Tunnel” identified the “key” – witness…
After a long investigation, the “Tunnel” reporter located and spoke with the witness who last saw Theodoris Selemetzidis, before his traces were lost on Thursday, May 12, 2022.
On that day, the missing person went to Larissa and visited his friend at home. As he claimed, he made him coffee and a few hours later, Thodoris left for Tyrnavos. He agreed to speak to the “Tunnel” camera and described his friend as thoughtful and troubled, while also talking about the last calls he made before he disappeared.
Meetings at his home in Larissa were frequent, while many times the 43-year-old spent the night there for several days.
Thodoris left his friend’s house around four o’clock, but he never boarded the KTEL to return to Tyrnavos.
“Then I found out that Theodoris was nowhere. I was impressed that they found his things, his cellphone and wallet thrown away because he always put them in the banana he was carrying,” says Christos and wonders:
“How is this? He was very protective of his personal belongings.”
“Even if we find him dead…”
The residents of Tyrnavos are shocked by the strange disappearance of Theodoris. No one can believe that from one day to the next, their fellow villager has disappeared. As they say, a lot can be heard in the village, but no testimony has been confirmed.
“It’s been almost a year. Let’s find him even dead. He disappeared, his tracks ended. One thing, as if nature took him,” said his cousin, Stelios Papadopoulos.
The woman who baptized him, married him and baptized his son, was like his mother. She speaks excitedly to the “Tunnel” camera about Theodoris. As Maria Saltzidou reports, he is a good boy, kind-hearted, sensitive and loved his son very much.
“They told me that Theodoris committed suicide, others said that he was thrown away, others that he fled to Germany. Whom to believe”, asks Mrs. Maria.
“I was very attached to him. I hurt the child. When I’m alone I even cry. All I have are his wedding photos. I look at them and say “where are you my bastard, where are you my boy”. I’m still sad and I can’t believe it,” said the family friend of the missing man with emotion and described a shocking incident that happened to his son Theodoris when he was a soldier.
“His child was in Germany and came to Greece for his term. He was damaged when the door from the guardhouse fell and hit him in the head. He was brought by helicopter from Evros to Thessaloniki. He is now well and returned to Germany.”
“Whatever God says. Even if he is dead, let’s find him. A grave, a candle to go and light for him. A reading to give him. He went like the dog to the vine”, concluded Mrs. Maria.
The missing person is 1.80 tall and a Silver Alert has been issued for his disappearance.
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