This is the question that police are asking after a breakthrough in the Nicky Verstappen case.
11-year-old Nicky Verstappen was murdered on 10th August in 1998. He was found dead near his summer camp and so far no one has been charged in connection with his murder. Thanks to modern forensics, they have linked 55-year-old Jos Brech from Simpelveld to his murder. Police have now placed him on a ‘national wanted list’ and are now calling for help for him to be found, so he can be brought to justice. Jos Brech is not expected to be found within the Netherlands, so a European arrest warrant has been issued.
Jos Brech’s disappearance
Since October last year, Jos Brech went abroad and has not been seen since. His family have even reported him missing (back in April). He was a fan of wild camping and scouting (ex-scout leader) and regularly used to travel to partake in these activities. When he went travelling in October, he told his family that he was going to go hiking through the Vosges Mountains in France, yet was never seen again. Despite this, they are expecting the man to still be alive, as the timing of his departure was the perfect timing for him to go into hiding. This is because last year, in the same month that he went missing, Limburg Police started a large-scale DNA investigation, which involved obtaining DNA samples from 15,000 men in the region in order to help with the investigation. Jos Brech said he would do it when he got back (which had not).
In the end, a match was found with a family member who then informed the police that he had gone missing. As a result, since July the 12th 2018, the European arrest warrant has been in place. Nicky Verstappen’s parents were informed, but it was not made public. Now it has been made public and police are calling for all the help they can get.
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?
- Large ears
- Brown/grey hair
- Around 1.8 meters tall
Nicky Verstappen murder
Nicky Verstappen, aged 11 was on summer camp in Limburg when he disappeared overnight on the 9th and 10th of August in 1998. The next day he body was found near the camp. A day or two afterwards, Jos Brech was stopped by Dutch military police, who questioned him twice as a witness and nothing more came of that. Jos Brech was not known to Nicky Verstappen.
