A group of volunteers have started a fresh search for the body of a young woman who went missing in 2010.
Heidi De Schepper, 26, from Merksem in Antwerp, went missing 15 years ago, but her disappearance only came to light last year.
In February, police carried out a search around the industrial area near Poeierstraat in Balen. At the beginning of June, the police and public prosecutor's office launched a new operation to try and find De Schepper's body in an area that had not yet been searched.
Volunteers from an ASBL Search and Rescue Dog Association have now taken over the task. This weekend, the sniffer dog team scoured a large area of land in Balen, hoping to find the young woman's body.
So far, the search has yielded nothing, but volunteers say new searches will be conducted into the first half of July, subject to the approval of the public prosecutor's office.
Patrick De Cock, who took part in the weekend’s search, told VRT News that it is “very important” De Schepper’s body is found.
"It is a search area of over 400 square meters, so a lot of work,” he said. “There are still quite a few searches planned between now and mid-July. If they ultimately yield nothing, we will have to stop too.
“We can only hope that she is here. But if her body is completely wrapped in plastic, or if she is buried under the road, it will be impossible for the dogs to find her.
"She was a mother of 3 children. If I can help others with this, I want to do it, free of charge. I think it is very important that she is found."
School raised the alarm
At the time of her disappearance, De Schepper had been living in the municipality of Balen with her boyfriend and their three children aged 2, 3 and 7. At 18, she reportedly broke off contact with her family to live with her partner.
Her partner confirmed that she went missing in 2010, but did not report her disappearance. The police only became aware she was missing when the school attended by one of her three children raised the alarm when they were unable to contact her.
Heidi De Schepper has been missing since 2010. Credit: Handout picture provided by federal police.
De Schepper’s name had been removed from the population register list in Balen in November 2010, VRT NWS reported. This means that, administratively, the woman no longer existed in Belgium.
Someone – who is not yet clear – informed the commune that Heidi was no longer staying at the address where she was registered. This official deletion normally follows an investigation by the police.
Once the authorities found out about De Schepper’s disappearance, the police launched an investigation, which led to several arrests.
Three suspects were arrested in February, including De Schepper’s partner, now aged 55, and a 33-year-old man already convicted of murder in 2013. Two of the three have already made partial confessions. It is on the basis of these statements that the search, so far unsuccessful, is being conducted.
