Suspect in 1998 murder of Dutch boy held in Spain

THE HAGUE: A suspect in the brutal 1998 killing of a young Dutch boy has been arrested in Spain, police said after one of the most extensive murder investigations to date in the Netherlands.

Elevenyearold Nicky Verstappen disappeared during the night of Aug 9, 1998, while at a summer camp at the Brunssumerheide nature reserve, near the German border.

His body was found the next evening, close to the camp site.

He had been sexually abused before he was killed.

“Jos B, 55, a suspect in the death of Nicky Verstappen was arrested in Spain on Sunday afternoon,” a police statement issued in Limburg, the southern district in which the boy disappeared, said.

Suspect Jos Brech, a former scout worker who is believed to be a survival expert, was reported missing in April and police had thought he was hiding in France’s mountainous eastern Vosges region, where he owns a chalet.

Brech was arrested “thanks to a witness who recognised him after seeing his picture in the media in recent days” investigators added.

“We got him! Jos Brech was arrested in Spain near Barcelona!” journalist Peter R. de Vries, spokesman for the dead boy’s family, exclaimed on Twitter.

“The family is very relieved. Justice will be done!“

Police at the time of the murder mounted a massive search closely followed by local media and the Dutch public, but the 11yearold boy’s killer was never found. — AFP