Post by pieter on Aug 22, 2018 4:29:56 GMT -7
SUSPECT IDENTIFIED 20 YEARS AFTER DUTCH BOY'S MURDER; STILL AT LARGE
By Janene Pieters on August 22, 2018 - 13:10
Nicky Verstappen before he was murdered
Twenty years after the murder of 11-year-old Nicky Verstappen in Brunssummerheide, the Dutch authorities managed to identify a suspect. The suspect is 55-year-old Jos Brech from Simpelveld. The police do not know where he is at this time, and placed him on the national wanted list on Wednesday. An European arrest warrant was also issued for the man, according to NU.nl's live blog of the press conference on this breakthrough in Maastricht on Wednesday.
Brech lived in Simpelveld and was active in scouting and camping in the wild. He organized trips throughout Europe, and therefore regularly traveled himself. In October last year he left to go abroad. He told his family that he was going on a hiking tour through the Vosges mountains in France, and hasn't been seen since. His family reported him missing.
According to the Public Prosecutor, there are no indications that the man is no longer alive. "We assume that the man is in hiding", the Prosecutor said at the press conference. "We hope that people saw him somewhere in Europe or have his telephone number, for example." The police think he may be hiding in a forest in the Vosges mountains. Searches were made in the mountains for Brech, but so far nothing has been found.
The 55-year-old man did not give a DNA sample for a massive DNA kinship investigation in this case, though he told his family that he intended to do so when he returned from his trip. The police still managed to match DNA traces found on Nicky's pajamas in 1998 to him, because some of Brech's relatives gave a sample for the kinship investigation. The DNA investigation started in the same month that Brech disappeared. According to the police, it does not seem that Brech knew Nicky or his family.
Jos Brech - wanted for the 1998 murder of Nicky Verstappen. Photo: Police
Nicky Verstappen disappeared in the night of 9 to 10 August 1998 while on summer camp in Brunssummerheide in Limburg. His body was found near the camp the next day. On August 12th that year, Brech was stopped in the area by members of the Koninklijke Marechaussee - a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military. They took his details and he was twice questioned as a witness. "At that time the circumstances and facts did not indicate that this man was anything more than a passerby", the Limburg police said on Twitter.
Nicky's parents were told that a suspect was identified early in June, but asked to keep it quiet in the interest of the investigation. An European arrest warrant was issued for the suspect on July 12th. The police are now focused on finding this man. "This is not the end of our investigation, but the start of the criminal investigation", the police said at the press conference. They call on the public's help to track this man down.
Jos Brech is 1.8 meters tall. He has brown hair, which may be gray by now, and large ears, according to the police description.
The French and Dutch police are working close together in France. Together with French colleages Dutch police investigators are working hard to track Jos Brech down in the North-East of France in the Vosges mountains. Probably in the border region they get assistance of their German colleagues of the Bundespolizei. And maybe Belgian, Luxemburg and Swiss colleagues too. This murder suspect is a trained man who is used to survival in rough, tough environments. I hope that the French police can catch Jos Brech before he hurts others, like for instance French, Swiss or German kids or kids of tourists of other nationalities. This is a very dangerous man and Interpol is bussy with him, and at least 2 police forces of 2 countries (the Netherlands and France). This case stirred up quite some emotions in the Netherlands and the family suffers until today. If this man is caught at least the family is reassured that this man can't hurt other boys or girls?
Link to Dutch wikipedia: nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moord_op_Nicky_Verstappen
Jos Brech uses hiding- and mountain huts and he knows the environment of the Vosges mountains very well.
By Janene Pieters on August 22, 2018 - 13:10
Nicky Verstappen before he was murdered
Twenty years after the murder of 11-year-old Nicky Verstappen in Brunssummerheide, the Dutch authorities managed to identify a suspect. The suspect is 55-year-old Jos Brech from Simpelveld. The police do not know where he is at this time, and placed him on the national wanted list on Wednesday. An European arrest warrant was also issued for the man, according to NU.nl's live blog of the press conference on this breakthrough in Maastricht on Wednesday.
Brech lived in Simpelveld and was active in scouting and camping in the wild. He organized trips throughout Europe, and therefore regularly traveled himself. In October last year he left to go abroad. He told his family that he was going on a hiking tour through the Vosges mountains in France, and hasn't been seen since. His family reported him missing.
According to the Public Prosecutor, there are no indications that the man is no longer alive. "We assume that the man is in hiding", the Prosecutor said at the press conference. "We hope that people saw him somewhere in Europe or have his telephone number, for example." The police think he may be hiding in a forest in the Vosges mountains. Searches were made in the mountains for Brech, but so far nothing has been found.
The 55-year-old man did not give a DNA sample for a massive DNA kinship investigation in this case, though he told his family that he intended to do so when he returned from his trip. The police still managed to match DNA traces found on Nicky's pajamas in 1998 to him, because some of Brech's relatives gave a sample for the kinship investigation. The DNA investigation started in the same month that Brech disappeared. According to the police, it does not seem that Brech knew Nicky or his family.
Jos Brech - wanted for the 1998 murder of Nicky Verstappen. Photo: Police
Nicky Verstappen disappeared in the night of 9 to 10 August 1998 while on summer camp in Brunssummerheide in Limburg. His body was found near the camp the next day. On August 12th that year, Brech was stopped in the area by members of the Koninklijke Marechaussee - a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military. They took his details and he was twice questioned as a witness. "At that time the circumstances and facts did not indicate that this man was anything more than a passerby", the Limburg police said on Twitter.
Nicky's parents were told that a suspect was identified early in June, but asked to keep it quiet in the interest of the investigation. An European arrest warrant was issued for the suspect on July 12th. The police are now focused on finding this man. "This is not the end of our investigation, but the start of the criminal investigation", the police said at the press conference. They call on the public's help to track this man down.
Jos Brech is 1.8 meters tall. He has brown hair, which may be gray by now, and large ears, according to the police description.
The French and Dutch police are working close together in France. Together with French colleages Dutch police investigators are working hard to track Jos Brech down in the North-East of France in the Vosges mountains. Probably in the border region they get assistance of their German colleagues of the Bundespolizei. And maybe Belgian, Luxemburg and Swiss colleagues too. This murder suspect is a trained man who is used to survival in rough, tough environments. I hope that the French police can catch Jos Brech before he hurts others, like for instance French, Swiss or German kids or kids of tourists of other nationalities. This is a very dangerous man and Interpol is bussy with him, and at least 2 police forces of 2 countries (the Netherlands and France). This case stirred up quite some emotions in the Netherlands and the family suffers until today. If this man is caught at least the family is reassured that this man can't hurt other boys or girls?
Link to Dutch wikipedia: nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moord_op_Nicky_Verstappen
Jos Brech uses hiding- and mountain huts and he knows the environment of the Vosges mountains very well.