Finnish police may search for two men missing in Lapland for 20 years
Sunday 26th July 2026 on 15:00 in
Finland
Lapland police may conduct searches later this summer or autumn in an effort to locate two men who disappeared in 2006, Yle reports.
Aulis Käkelä, 53, vanished from his home in Käyrämo, Rovaniemi, in August 2006. Antti Hanhivaara, 21, disappeared in Inari’s Angeli village near the Norwegian border in October 2006. Authorities do not believe the cases are connected.
Detective Inspector Tapio Roininen of Lapland Police said additional searches may be carried out if new information or leads emerge.
“If something comes to light that police were not previously aware of, we will naturally conduct the necessary checks. Sometimes these are searches, sometimes other inspections,” Roininen said.
Despite the passage of time, Roininen still considers it possible the men could be found, noting that skulls in particular can remain preserved for long periods.
Both investigations have used the Missing Person Search (MSO) method, introduced by police in 2012–2013, which profiles missing persons and compares cases to determine likely locations.
“This method has successfully located remains of individuals missing for long periods,” Roininen said.
Käkelä was last seen on the evening of 18 August 2006. Police believe he disappeared the following day after retrieving fishing nets from a lake. A black Mercedes-Benz was reportedly seen driving into his yard between 8 and 9 am that Saturday.
Investigators described Käkelä as an honest man with no known criminal connections. His home was found in order, with his phone and wallet left on a table.
A Rovaniemi court declared Käkelä legally dead in 2012.
Hanhivaara disappeared after leaving a friend’s home in Angeli. Witnesses reported seeing him walking toward the Inari River upstream, effectively into the wilderness. His car was later found abandoned in poor condition by the roadside in Angeli.
Roininen dismissed persistent online speculation of foul play, stating that no evidence of a crime has emerged in the investigation.