Police search children’s farm for bodies

15 January 2004

AMSTERDAM — Dutch police brought in a mechanic digger to a children’s farm in Baarn Thursday to excavate what authorities believe are the bodies of a local couple missing since the end of 1999.

The public prosecutor’s office (OM) said it was still not 100 percent certain that remains buried under the goats’ enclosure on the farm originated from humans. It is also unclear how long the remains had been buried for.

Thursday’s search is believed to be connected to the disappearance of Christiaan Johannes Müller, 69, and Ria Müller-Van der Velde, 63. The couple, who lived in Baarn, has not been seen alive since 1999.

The police investigation into their disappearance only began in November of last year after Dutch television crime reporter Peter R. de Vries tracked down relatives of the pair. A missing persons’ report was then filed, news agency ANP reported.

The OM has announced it has arrested a suspect, 59, who lives about 100m from the farm, which operated as a sort children’s activities farm.

He is being questioned about the disappearance, but ANP said it was unclear whether the man was a manager of the farm.

He was detained when he visited his ex-wife and children in Woerden on Wednesday night.

[Copyright Expatica News 2004]

Subject: Dutch news