Residents of Beerta, Groningen, have flown the Dutch flag at half-mast after the bodies of Jeffrey and Emma were found. A fundraising campaign has been started for the children’s funeral.
The flags at half-mast can be seen in the Hoofdstraat and in the neighborhood where the father lived. A large flag also hangs at half-mast at the church in the town. A residential care facility has flown its own, as well as the Groningen and Dutch flags, halfway up the three masts.
Many Groningen flags are always visible in the province. Around Beerta, such as in the neighboring town of Finsterwolde, people have also lowered the flags.
The bodies of the children and their father were found in a car in the water in Winschoten on Tuesday evening. The father (67) took 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.
A resident of Finsterwolde (municipality of Oldambt) has started a fundraiser for the funeral of Jeffrey and Emma. On crowdfunding site GoFundMe, organizer Marleen Duit writes that she is organizing this in consultation and with the permission of the children’s family. Donations poured in quickly after opening. Around two hours after the start, 10,000 euros had been raised.
All donations are intended to “help the family give the two dear children a dignified farewell.” The original target amount of 9,000 euros has now been adjusted upwards. “Thank you in advance for your support, also on behalf of the family of Jeffrey and Emma.”
“As everyone has heard, Jeffrey and Emma have died tragically,” Duit writes.
She is also the one who took the initiative for the citizen search operation, which was ultimately 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.