Many scenarios are still possible in the case of the missing nine-year-old Gino in Kerkrade. The police are currently conducting a neighborhood investigation and collecting camera images, a police spokesperson reported Friday morning. It is not yet clear whether the scooter that was found belongs to Gino.
The scooter was found on Thursday evening at a parking lot by a swimming pool in Landgraaf, a few kilometers from Kerkrade. He looks a lot like the scooter that Gino would have had with him. To determine whether this is Gino’s scooter, trace evidence is being carried out.
The police are very concerned, because there is no explanation whatsoever for the disappearance of the boy. He was last seen on Wednesday between 7.30 pm and 8.30 pm on the playing field at Hertogenlaan and Zonstraat in Kerkrade.
Around his disappearance, three children and a man were playing football on that field. The three children have since been able to speak to the police, but the man has not yet come forward. Police are urgently calling on the man to come forward.
Police say the boy may be in life-threatening condition. A national amber alert was therefore issued on Thursday afternoon. Police said earlier in the day that they suspected a crime.
Searches in the Netherlands and Germany
On Thursday evening, about forty volunteers searched for the boy in a forest near Kerkrade and an adjacent residential area. Another group of about eighty to ninety volunteers searched for the missing Gino late on Thursday evening in Landgraaf, a spokesperson for the group said.
The German police have also been informed about Gino’s disappearance. Kerkrade is located on the Dutch-German border. A search team from Germany went looking for the boy in Landgraaf in the night from Thursday to Friday. It concerns Medical Service NRW, which specializes in searching for people and providing medical assistance. The group also has search dogs.
Medical Service NRW, together with another German search dog team and a drone team, searched until 4.30 am. There will also be a large-scale search on Friday, Medical Service NRW reports on Facebook.
Alert via Burgernet
Just after 0:30 a.m. on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, the police received a report about the disappearance. An hour later, Burgernet was asked for tips about Gino. A description of the child was also shared.
According to his sister, the boy had a black scooter with red handles and a red footboard. He is 1.30 meters tall and has blond hair. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing a red Nike Jordan jacket with black sleeves, a red Nike cap, light gray jeans and green shoes with white soles.
The police asks people who have images from the area between the Zonstraat in Kerkrade and the parking lot by the swimming pool in Landgraaf to contact us via 0900-88 44.