Killed on the first day she was missing

Prosecutors say an investigation by police has established that the 29-year-old woman from Amsterdam was killed early in the afternoon of Sunday 4 October, the first day she was missing. She was last seen that day near the RAI event complex, from where she rode off on a bicycle with an unknown man toward the Buitenveldert district. Police believe she was killed fairly soon after she disappeared, probably in a former school building in Buitenveldert that has no residents but houses small businesses using anti-squat rooms. Her body was found in a suitcase in the water along the Amsteldijk on 16 October. The cause of death has not been made public, but police are certain a crime was committed, and prosecutors say there are no indications of sexual abuse.

Suspect held longer after foster-father attack

A 23-year-old Somali man, who according to reports has lived in the Netherlands since 2009, was arrested on Tuesday 20 October in Spierdijk, a village in the municipality of Koggenland in North Holland. According to reports, he arrived unannounced at the home of his foster father that morning, smashed windows when he was refused entry and then attacked the foster father, who was taken to hospital. Relatives say the foster father is doing well now, and NOS reported that a hammer may have been used. Police arrested the suspect quickly, and it soon emerged that he was wanted in connection with the killing. On Friday 23 October an investigating judge at the Amsterdam court ordered that he remain in custody for a further 14 days. He is suspected of murder, of concealing the woman's body, of attempted murder or manslaughter of his foster father, and of threatening a woman in Koggenland.

Missed warnings and the missing report

Het Parool reports that a sister of the woman received three distressing messages around 11:15 on Sunday 4 October through an acquaintance. The sister first tried to reach her directly, without success, and only called police at 8:15 PM that evening, roughly nine hours after the messages arrived. Police already knew that the woman often left home with a suitcase and reappeared later, and she had been missing earlier this year before turning up in Portugal. Her disappearance was classified as urgent on Monday 5 October, a designation given about 650 times a year in Amsterdam, after which officers checked bank card activity and pinged her mobile phone. One account dates the family's missing report to 5 October rather than the evening of 4 October. Police released her name and photo on 13 October and said she had last been seen with a man at the RAI. Whether the case was escalated sooner despite the messages remains unknown.

Family asks for privacy

Richard Korver, the lawyer for the family, says relatives want to be left in peace so they can mourn, and he asked that their privacy be respected. The family will not answer questions while the investigation is ongoing, and its focus for now is the funeral. Korver said the family would make any statement on its own initiative:

“If the family ever feels the need to come out with a statement, it will take that initiative itself.”

The foster mother told Noordhollands Dagblad that the two other foster children in the Spierdijk household were moved elsewhere for their safety, because the safe location they had been staying in had become publicly known through media attention.