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From the outside, Corrie van der Valk seemed to have the kind of life most would envy. The heir to her family’s substantial hotel fortune, the Dutch woman lived in comfort in a Nederasselt villa with her husband and six children.
Then, in 2001, the 58-year-old vanished. Her purse, ID and clothes were all found at her family home. Rumours swirled that the fiercely independent woman had abandoned her family, that she’d assumed a new identity. According to the NL Times, some even suggested she’d moved to India.
But this month, after more than 17 years, the truth was uncovered 215 kilometres away across the Belgian border.
Corrie van der Valk’s disappearance.
Corrie was last seen alive on January 7, 2001, having coffee with her husband, Nico. Yet though there were no calls, no emails from Corrie, it would be another three weeks before her family reported her missing. According to Dutch News, they assumed she’d gone on an impromptu holiday; something she’d been known to do before.
With the revelation that Corrie and Nico’s marriage was buckling, that Corrie was in the process of filing for divorce, authorities turned their attention to her husband. He was arrested on March 22 that year in relation to her disappearance, but released three weeks later due to lack of evidence. According to The Brussels Times, he was officially ruled out as a suspect in 2003.
The arrest shook the already fractured family. “That my father was suspected has really touched us deeply. Because we are convinced that he has nothing to do with the disappearance of my mother,” the couple’s daughter, Sandra van der Valk told Dutch program Missing in 2008. “It still eats at my father.”
Top Comments
I remember vividly the policeman telling my mother and I that when my dad died in similar circumstances with no ID on him, it was only that mum was on the scene immediately and identified her beloved husband that they could return him to us. It could have been days/weeks to find his family. I can only send my prayers to this poor family and hope they can find some peace..
I'm dutch, and have 4 ancestors (that I know of) including my grandmother, an uncle & 2 great aunts who committed suicide in the netherlands all by jumping in front of a train. Not being insensitive, but Could this maybe a common act over there, and the case in this situation ?