Peruvian police have completed their investigation into the disappearance of Belgian tourist Natacha de Crombrugghe without informing Belgian authorities.
Local newspaper La Republica reported that the police ruled out any criminal intent after a month of interrogations, tests and analysis and that the police investigation into her disappearance at the end of January has come to an end. The news came as a surprise to Belgian authorities working on the case.
"We were surprised to hear of the termination of the Peruvian investigation. We were never contacted by them regarding this decision, made by the local police," a spokesperson for the Federal Prosecutor told The Brussels Times.
He stressed that the investigation is ongoing in Belgium and that despite there being no new information, "all doors remain open." This was also confirmed by the Federal Judicial Police.
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"In Belgium, the investigation has certainly not been concluded," An Berger, the federal judicial police spokesperson, told The Brussels Times. She added that the three Belgian investigators sent to Peru more than two weeks ago to help in the search for de Crombrugghe have now left.
The Federal Prosecutor's office said that there is no new information and no new leads in the search for the missing 28-year-old.
Efforts scaled down
Fewer rescuers from the National Police are now looking for de Crombrugghe in the Colca Valley, district of Cabanaconde, where she was last seen, according to La Republica.
The search and rescue agents, the so-called Kallpas of Cusco, who walked along trails and trekking routes to find the woman, abandoned the search this weekend after failing to find a single trace linked to de Crombrugghe and her disappearance.
The local newspaper reported that her parents asked for the search for their daughter to be continued through the consulate, adding that the police officers who are still on the scene will start to widen the exploration area to try to find her.
De Crombrugghe is a 28-year-old lawyer from Linkebeek who was travelling alone in Peru and reportedly left the hostel she was staying in in the Peruvian village of Cabanaconde for a trek through the Colca Canyon, a deep and wide gorge. She left behind some of her luggage in the hostel before departing alone, and never returned from the trek.
