dpatopbilder – Numerous volunteers take part in the search (aerial photo with drone). The Dutch police are searching for two missing children with a large contingent in the north of the country in the border region with Lower Saxony. The police have not ruled out the possibility that the children’s father has abducted them. Photo: Lars Penning/dpa
Keystone
Police searching for the two missing children in the north-east of the Netherlands have found a car with several bodies. A police spokesman told the ANP news agency that it was to be expected “that it could be Jeffrey and Emma”.
The two children, Jeffrey (10) and Emma (8), were believed to have been abducted by their father (67). The police had feared that their lives were in danger after a letter from their father was found.
Car found in the water
The police spokesman has not yet been able to say how many bodies were found. The car was found in the water near Winschoten. It was a similar model to the car the father was looking for. The car is now being carefully removed from the water and examined, the spokesman said. As soon as the bodies have been identified, the relatives will be informed.
Winschoten is located to the east of Groningen, around 15 kilometers from the German border. The father’s car was also last seen there on Saturday.
Feverish search
A feverish search for the children had been underway since Sunday, including dog teams, boats, a helicopter and special search teams. The police also did not rule out the possibility that the father had taken the children to nearby Lower Saxony.
On Tuesday, the police in East Frisia asked the public for information and set up a special information hotline.
Man left a letter
The children had been taken by their father in a gray Toyota from the village of Beerta on Saturday afternoon. According to the police, the 67-year-old man had left a letter indicating that he wanted to take the lives of the children and himself. According to witnesses, the children’s parents live separately and the children were supposed to spend the weekend with their father.