By Tim Binnall
A Turkish man who had been reported missing by his family was understandably quite embarrassed when he stumbled upon a search party looking for him and joined in the effort for hours until he realized that they were trying to find him. According to a local media report, the odd misadventure occurred on Tuesday evening in the village of Cayyaka when Beyhan Mutlu went out for a few drinks with some friends. At the conclusion of the evening, the tipsy Turk wound up wandering off into a forest where he seemingly got lost. Concerned that Mutlu had not returned home, his family phoned the local police, who set about enlisting help from the community in searching for the man.
As the group of concerned cops and citizens combed the woods looking for Mutlu, the inebriated man spotted the peculiar gathering and wandered over to lend them a hand. For the next several hours, they continued looking for the 'missing' drinker with no idea that the search was moot. Finally, when Mutlu heard one of the people in the group shout his name, the confused man responded "I am here." It was then that everyone realized that the person they were looking for had been with them the whole time. Upon being questioned by police, the red-faced Mutlu reportedly pleaded with police "don't punish me too harshly, officer. My father will kill me." Cops subsequently dropped him off at his home, where he presumably sobered up and then tried to live down any lingering embarrassment from the previous night.