1/2 Residents of Nieuwendijk fervently hope that Germa van den Boom, who has been missing since 1984, will be found on Tuesday.
Residents of Nieuwendijk fervently hope that Germa van den Boom, who has been missing since 1984, will be found on Tuesday. The police are looking for her body in the garden of a house on Kildijk. Germa’s uncle used to live in that house. “I always had the feeling that they had to look in the area.”
The police started the search on Tuesday morning following a tip received by the Peter R. de Vries Foundation. Digging is taking place in the garden of the house on Kildijk. It concerns the house where Germa’s uncle used to live. Other people now live in the house. The police emphasize that they have nothing to do with the case.
The area around the house is closed off with black screens, so that people from the street cannot watch. Still, some local residents come to take a look at what’s happening. One of them is neighbor Frans. He has lived in the area for 66 years. “I knew the gentleman who used to live in this house,” he says. “That was Germa’s uncle. He and his wife died years ago.”
The local resident says he is not shocked by the news. “I think it’s a false alarm. Otherwise they would have started digging here sooner, wouldn’t they? But I hope they find something.” He is surprised that the police are now searching at Germa’s uncle’s house. “He didn’t come across very well to me in the past, but that doesn’t mean anything of course.”
“Everyone wishes it for her family.”
Adamo watches with a lump in his throat on Tuesday. He lives about a hundred meters away. “I received a text this morning about what is happening here and I have had goosebumps ever since. It would be fantastic if Germa is found. Everyone here knows her family and wishes them the opportunity to have closure on this,” he says.
According to Adamo, it is no big surprise that Germa is being searched for in his neighborhood. “I always thought that they should search in the area where she was missing. I think that is the feeling that many people from Nieuwendijk have. Peter R. de Vries has also been saying for years that they should search in the area.” But the local resident had not expected that they were looking for Germa’s uncle. “No, I thought about other places, but not here.”
“It was truly a tragedy.”
Corné has lived in Nieuwendijk all his life. He still remembers Germa’s disappearance. “I was only six years old at the time, but I still remember the whole village being in an uproar. There were pamphlets everywhere. It was really a tragedy,” he says.
Will Germa be found on Tuesday? Corné wonders. “We have of course already had several searches and excavation work. But I really hope so. The whole village hopes so. Especially for the family, because they also want to be able to find closure, I think.”
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