The girlfriend of the main suspect Dave De Kock was arrested on suspicion of murder and kidnapping, but it is not yet clear whether she played an active role in the boy’s death.
She was arrested in the night of Monday 17 to Tuesday 18 January during a house search in Sint-Gillis-Waas, in the building where she lived with Dave De Kock. The victim Dean Verberckmoes also stayed with the couple in the past and the child would stay overnight on Wednesday 12 January, the day on which De Kock and Dean Verberckmoes were last seen.
The woman had stated early in the investigation that she had last seen Dean with Dave de Kock, and that she had nothing to do with his death. She cooperated with the investigation, according to her lawyer, and she has since been questioned again, but the defense is no longer commenting.
De Kock and Romy W. made conflicting statements and their respective roles in the boy’s death have not yet been clarified. The investigators had hoped to confront them quickly after a surrender via the short procedure, but due to De Kock’s resistance, the final decision on the surrender to our country will not be made until next week.
Dave De Kock crossed the border into the Netherlands in the night of Friday 14 to Saturday 15 January and left the boy’s body behind at Neeltje Jans in Zeeland on Saturday afternoon. According to his Dutch lawyer, De Kock can only be accused of negligence and he is not guilty of kidnapping or murder. Both suspects thus place the responsibility for Dean’s death on the other, necessitating a confrontation.
The council chamber on Friday extended the detention of Romy W. by one month, but the defense can still appeal to the indictment chamber in Ghent. The public prosecutor’s office does not comment on the question of the investigating judge.