Selects: The Disappearance of Lars Mittank

March 28, 2026·43 min·3 clips

Lars Mittank was given a high-dose antibiotic after a ruptured eardrum, sparking theories about side effects driving his paranoia.

Chuck frames this as Saturday mystery territory. The excerpt drops into the tense stretch, after Lars ends up at Hotel Color because it seems to be his only option. The hotel sounds almost normal. TripAdvisor has it at 4 out of 5, Booking.com has it at 7.8 out of 10, and the room is still about $25 American a night. So, yes, that feels off. The hosts are careful to say it does not sound like a trap house hotel, even if the price makes them suspicious. Then someone photocopies the credit card. According to his mother, that bothers Lars enough that he calls her around 11 p.m. and asks her to block it. His thinking is simple enough. He worries the hotelier might use the card for fraud, and he can unfreeze it once he gets home. That is the first call. After that, the situation slips out of ordinary hotel nerves and into something harder to explain. He leaves the hotel. In another call, he says he is hiding on a hill and could fall, which makes the hosts picture something steep. Then the fear spikes. Lars says four men are after him, or at least that they mean to kill him. He tells his mom not to call back. The practical reason is that he does not want the phone to ring, though the hosts point out that he left his smartphone at home and brought a cheaper phone. Maybe the ringer mattered. Maybe he was not thinking clearly. That uncomfortable possibility sits under the whole exchange. Then he sends one text. He asks what Seraphim 500 is, the antibiotic already mentioned in the story, and the question adds another strange detail without making the picture clearer.

As heard by us

Lars Metonk called his mother from a hillside, and neither he nor she could tell what was real.

Lars Metonk checked into the Hotel Color -- $25 a night, the desk clerk having photocopied his credit card -- then called his mother at 11 p.m. to have it blocked.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want the missing-persons case where the man himself was not sure what he was running from.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Stuff You Should Know