At bungalow park Wernhoutsburg (better known as Patersven) near Wernhout, it was suddenly blue from the police on 12 May last year. “It was as if a bomb hit Patersven,” says resident Christa Kienen. In a plastic bag, half in the water, a murdered newborn girl was found. It does not let go of Christa and provides a memorial for the foundling. A place that she still takes care of with love.
The small monument to Amy-Amélief van het Ven, the name she was given later, is located on the edge of the park, near the bank of the fen in which she was found.
“It’s really degrading what happened to her.”
Christa visits regularly, but not too often. “That’s not good for me. I’m a mother myself and I can’t imagine that this doesn’t affect you. This girl was not born dead, but was killed in a really violent way. It is really degrading what happened to her happened and that still affects me a lot.”
At the spot where the girl was found, Christa again grabs by the throat: “My mother’s heart really broke. This girl really should have lived. If only she had left her at my door and I had taken care of her.”
Even more than a year after her discovery, the parent has never been found. “We also don’t know whether it is a Dutch girl, or Polish or Romanian. The man who found her chose the name Amy. And I chose the surname Van het Ven, because this is the place where he found her. “
“This is Amy and let everyone here mourn her in his or her own way.”
On the monument is a memorial stone with her name and date of death. Christa: “Actually, a tree would be planted here for her, but when that didn’t happen, I took matters into my own hands and had this memorial stone made. And the great thing is that there are now other decorated stones next to it, laid by children who also think of her. And I like that.”
After our conversation, Christa plucks some tall grass and leaves from the memorial for the foundling baby. The emotion of the horrific find is still there. The monument helps her. “And whoever takes this away, I’ll find him,” says Christa with a very convincing look. “You’re going to get sick of this. This is Amy and let everyone here mourn her in his or her own way.”
Omroep Brabant last year about the finding of the girl:
Waiting for privacy settings…
Amy-Amélief van het Ven is now buried in the cemetery in Wernhout, a few kilometers away.
ALSO READ: Baby found dead in Wernhout has been given a name