The police closed off a parking lot and a playground in Kerkrade on Friday evening in the investigation into the missing Gino van der Straeten (9). After citizens found something that may be related to the missing person case, the investigation was started.
Research is also being conducted in a forest area on Vincent van Goghplein.
Research
In front of the forest are some members of the Veterans Research Team, a foundation that provides support to the police during searches for missing persons. Both of Gino’s sisters came on Friday evening to watch the investigations of the forest. A helicopter was also used in the action.
Bringing things
It is currently unclear what has been found. The police have not said anything about it yet. The investigation was completed around 9:20 p.m. The items found were taken to the police station. The area around Vincent van Goghplein has been reopened.
Continue searching on Saturday
The police will no longer conduct searches in connection with the darkness during the night from Friday to Saturday, a spokeswoman said. The searches will not resume until Saturday morning. In consultation with the police, it will be determined in the course of Saturday morning where the Veterans Search Team will search. The same applies to citizens’ initiatives that, under the supervision of the police, also looked for traces of Gino on Friday.
Also read: Help from all quarters to find missing Gino
Step found
Gino, who actually lives in Maastricht, was last seen on Wednesday evening around 19:30 at a playing field at Hertogenlaan and Zonstraat. He was carrying a black scooter with red handles and a footboard. On Thursday evening, a scooter was found at the parking lot at the swimming pool In de Bende in Landgraaf. Sister Kelly (32) is convinced that it is her brother’s scooter. The police are still investigating it.
Citizens’ initiatives
The search continued in Landgraaf on Friday. Police have deployed a helicopter, sniffer dogs and drones. The German police have also been notified. In addition, CCTV footage was requested and a neighborhood survey was conducted. The camera images at the pool where the scooter was found are not yet in effect. There are several citizen initiatives that organize searches for the boy.
Also read: Missing Gino (9): what do we know so far?
German search team
Also, Medical Service NRW, a search team from Germany that specializes in searching for people and providing medical assistance and also has dogs, decided to help. In its own words, the team was requested to investigate on Thursday evening. Together with another German search dog team and drone team, they continued the search until 04:30. There will also be a large-scale search on Friday, Medical Service NRW reports on Facebook.
Not enough manpower
The Veterans Search Team Foundation, which also helped in the search for Anne Faber, is looking for the missing Gino in Kerkrade. According to the police, the missing person has so much impact and so many different areas have to be searched that the police do not have enough manpower for this.