Four members of ‘problem’ family found dead

22 February 2006

AMSTERDAM — Police found the bodies of four members of a family in a home in the town of Huissen in Gelderland Province, it was revealed late on Tuesday.

A police spokesperson said no further information would be released until the victims were formally identified. The local mayor said later a couple and their children, a girl, 8, and her brother, 4, had died in the tragedy.

The police received a report about the four bodies in the house at 6pm on Tuesday. It has not been revealed who alerted the police or how the four died.

A neighbour told the media that the victims were a ‘problem family’. The man, she said, frequently exhibited aggressive outbursts.

The neighbour said she had considered calling the child care services but had not done so.

Her son was friendly with the daughter of the family and the girl had spent the night in the neighbour’s home on one occasion.  Another neighbour described the dead parents as an “unusual couple”.

Detectives resumed a technical examination of the scene on Wednesday morning. Local people are being asked whether they had noticed or heard anything unusual in the area on Tuesday.

Residents expressed shock at the discovery of the bodies. “I spoke to the woman of the family on Monday evening,” one person said.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2006]

Subject: Dutch news