The search for the missing Jeffrey (10) and Emma (8) continues unabated on Tuesday. The search is being conducted in multiple locations in Groningen. Police fear for the children’s lives.
A search in the Carel Coenraadpolder in Groningen yielded nothing on Monday evening. “There are renewed searches at various locations in, among others, (East) Groningen,” the Groningen police wrote on X.
The search operations are being coordinated from the village hall in Finsterwolde, just a few kilometers from the polder where the search was conducted on Monday. The police are receiving assistance from several private search teams.
The search operation by the professional teams started around 8:00 AM this morning, said Teun Hakvoort, chairman of the Coordination Platform Missing, to NU.nl. The deployment of the civilian teams will only start around 2:30 PM. There is no clear reason for this later start. “This is happening in consultation with the police, and the police are in charge in this case,” Hakvoort said.
A member of the Veterans Search Team said on the WNL program Good morning Netherlands that the team is searching with approximately seventy to eighty people. “We are working as systematically as possible. You don’t want to skip anything, but it is also impossible to search every square centimeter of Groningen and beyond.”
Police are very concerned after indications that the father, 67-year-old Klaas B., wants to kill himself and the children. That suspicion arose based on a letter the suspect left behind.
On Sunday, an Amber Alert was issued for the missing children. Such an alert is only issued if there is a risk of life for the child.
The missing Jeffrey is 1.50 meters tall and was wearing a yellow shirt, black shorts and grey hiking boots. Emma is 1.30 meters tall. It is unknown exactly what clothes she was wearing, but she had purple sneakers on. Their father, Klaas B., has a light complexion, white hair and a white beard. He is between 1.70 and 1.75 meters tall and has a stocky build.