Drowning is the most likely cause of death for Jeffrey and Emma. This was stated by press officer Debby Homans of the Public Prosecution Service on Wednesday during a press conference. Their bodies were found in a car on Tuesday evening, along with that of their father.
“The worst-case scenario we all feared has come true,” says district chief Frank Smilda of the Groningen police (North Netherlands unit) at the press conference. You can read more in our live blog.
Smilda emphasizes that “all possible research methods have been used.” The fire department helped with the search and Defense helped with an aircraft. Private search teams such as the Veterans Search team also participated.
The police chief thanks all the people who helped in the search for Jeffrey and Emma. “Hundreds of police officers and citizens have worked to get Jeffrey and Emma back safely.”
The bodies of the children and their father were found in a car in the water in Winschoten on Tuesday evening. The father (67) had taken the children with him on Saturday afternoon. The police sent out an amber alert on Sunday because there were fears for the lives of the brother and sister. Read below how the search went.
Fundraising for ‘Dignified Farewell’ Jeffrey and Emma
Marleen Duit from Finsterwolde started a fundraising campaign for the funeral of Jeffrey and Emma on crowdfunding site GoFundMe. All donations are intended to “help the family give the two sweet children a dignified farewell.”
The original target amount of 9,000 euros was reached after about two hours. Then the counter was already at 10,000 euros. The target amount has been adjusted upwards.
Duit had also taken the initiative for the citizen search operation that was coordinated by the Coordination Platform Missing on Monday and Tuesday. On those two days, hundreds of people from the Beerta and Finsterwolde area took action to search for the children.
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