Drowning is the most likely cause of death for Jeffrey and Emma, according to Public Prosecutor Debby Homans on Wednesday at a press conference. Their bodies were found in a car on Tuesday evening, along with their father’s.
“The darkest 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 responds to questions from journalists that the police did not react too slowly to the disappearance. “It can’t be faster actually.” He emphasizes that “all possible research methods have been used” and that the search area was “enormously large.”
The fire department was involved in the search. Defense helped with an airplane. Private search teams such as the Veterans Search team also participated. The search was not only in the Netherlands, but also in Germany.
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.”
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OM: ‘Mother Jeffrey and Emma had Legal Authority’
Children Grew Up in ‘Difficult circumstances’
Mayor Ben Visser of the municipality of Eemsdelta says that the children already had a hard time due to “the difficult circumstances in which they grew up.”
The children were allegedly taken against their mother’s will on Saturday, Homans said. Officers visited the father the night before. They then decided not to intervene. “There was no reason to do anything about it.”
According to *Dagblad van het Noorden*, Jeffrey and Emma’s mother contacted the police on Friday because she inferred from the father’s messages that he would harm them. The police chief does not want to comment on this and does not go into the reason for the home visit.
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 on Saturday afternoon. The police sent out an amber alert on Sunday because there were fears for the brother and sister’s lives. Read below how the search went.
Collection for ‘Worthy Farewell’ Jeffrey and Emma
Marleen Duit from Finsterwolde started a fundraising campaign for Jeffrey and Emma’s funeral on crowdfunding site GoFundMe. All donations are intended to “help the family give the two dear children a dignified farewell.”
The original target amount of 9,000 euros was reached after about two hours. The target amount has been adjusted upwards. The counter now stands at 50,000 euros.
Duit had also taken the initiative for the citizen search operation that was coordinated on Monday and Tuesday by the Coordination Platform Missing. During those two days, hundreds of people from the Beerta and Finsterwolde area took action to search for the children.
“This drama deeply affects our community,” says Mayor Cora-Yfke Sikkema of the municipality of Oldambt. “Let’s continue to look out for each other.” The children lived with their mother in Delfzijl (Eemsdelta), their father lived in Beerta (Oldambt).
Correction: The Headline of this article initially ErroneOously stated that drowning was not the most likely cause of Death. That is incorrect and has leg adjusted immediately.