Freelance journalist Stefan Cvetkovic, who went missing on June 13, was found alive and in good health two days later, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced at an extra ordinary press conference urgently called on June 15. Vucic held the press conference together with  Minister of Interior Affairs Nebojsa Stefanovic and director of the Security Information Agency (BIA) Bratislav Gasic.

Cvetkovic went missing in the town of Bela Crkva overnight. A car owned by his father that Cvetkovic is using was found with its doors open and lights on. Eyewitnesses told Beta that Cvetkovic's wrist watch with its band torn was found next to the vehicle, according to B92.

Cvetkovic is now being questioned at the Criminal Police Directorate and Vucic said he is going to stay there for a “long [time] as he has a lot of things to say”.

None of the three officials explained what happened to the journalist and where he was while he was reportedly missing, saying that as the investigation is still ongoing, they can’t release any further details.

Asked by a journalist why an urgent press conference was called if no details can be released, Vucic said he called the press conference because was important to announce that the journalist is alive.

The information Vucic, Stefanovic and Gasic released indicated it is likely that Cvetkovic’s disappearance was faked because an unnamed actor wanted to place negative news in the media to undermine the importance of the opening of German producer of automotive cables Kromberg & Schubert’s factory in the central Serbian town of Krusevac on June 14. 

“We are listening and will be carefully listening to Cvetkovic’s story even though it sounds pretty much unbelievable,” Vucic said, indicating that it is not sure if Cvetkovic was part of a fake kidnapping or just a victim.

Cvetkovic’s reporting was critical of Vucic and the current Serbian government. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that Cvetkovic was investigating the murder of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic, who was assassinated in January in a drive-by shooting in North Mitrovica, Kosovo. Balkan Insight reported that Cvetkovic, during a February press conference, showed photos of individuals allegedly involved in the murder and claimed that the assassination cost €40,000.

During the press conference, Vucic said that police and BIA joint teams had found some calls from Pristina which provide an additional explanation of Cvetkovic’s disappearance.

The CPJ said also that Cvetkovic had been the subject of death threats, attacks, and legal action in the past. In 2007, he received two anonymous phone calls from an unidentified number when he was editor-in-chief of the independent radio-television station TNT in the city of Bela Crkva, CPJ reported. In 2008, he was attacked by an individual while having dinner in a restaurant in Bela Crkva. Cvetkovic said the attack was related to a past report aired on his TV station, the Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) reported. In 2015, unknown perpetrators destroyed his car, according to another report by SEEMO. According to Balkan Insight, in March 2017 Cvetkovic was sentenced to two years and three months in prison, after officials from Serbia's governing Progressive Party filed complaints; the ruling was annulled by the High Court in the Serbian town of Pancevo in April 2018.

Just after the news of the journalist’s disappearance went viral in the media  and on social networks, Serbian police said on June 14 that gendarmes, divers and a police helicopter were all looking for Cvetkovic, and that the police were working intensively to shed light on all the circumstances of the case, B92 reported.

At the opening of the factory in Krusevac, Vucic said that he was informed about the progress the police and BIA are making "every 15 minutes," but that he could not present any more details about the case.

“I couldn’t even imagine what could happen if didn’t find him… but, he is found and alive and there can’t be better news for me… I was thinking all day long yesterday what if he was really killed, what was going to be…,” Vucic said on June 15, referring to the eventual reaction of citizens, journalists and the international community.