 The disappearance did not create much excitement at the time, since the country was infested with bandits, stragglers from the French army, and German revolutionaries.Additionally, murders and robberies were so common that the loss of one commercial traveller (which Bathurst was travelling as) was barely noticed, especially since at the time there were hardly any legal authorities in Prussia.News of Bathurst's disappearance did not reach England for some weeks, until Krause managed to reach Hamburg and take ship for England.