It has been exactly a year since the multiply disabled Hebe Zwart (10) from Vught and her supervisor Sanne Bos (26) from Nuenen disappeared without a trace. She was supposed to take the girl home, but the two never came home. Two days later, their bodies were found in a car that had fallen into the water at the Empel junction near Den Bosch. An overview of a missing person that had the whole of the Netherlands in its grip.
October 17, 2022
Sanne will pick up Hebe that afternoon at the day center ‘t Overstapje in Raamsdonksveer. That is the last that is heard of them. At half past seven in the evening, the missing person was officially reported for the first time by the police via a Burgernet report. A second message follows just before eleven o’clock.
Around midnight, her mother posts a message on Facebook, asking people to look out for her daughter and supervisor.
October 18, 2022
Family, friends and the police are looking for Sanne and Hebe on Monday night. In total, about twenty detectives are working on the case. When it gets light on Tuesday morning, Hebe and Sanne are still missing. In the morning the police issues an AMBER Alert. Such a message is sent when a missing child may be in mortal danger.
The disappearance makes a lot of noise. A large-scale search is soon launched. Volunteers from the Veterans Search Team and the Missing Coordination Platform and other people help with the search. Hundreds of volunteers are combing the Loonse and Drunense Dunes for the girl and her supervisor.
October 19, 2022
The search will also continue on Wednesday. The police have indications that the two were on the A59 near Waspik at half past three on Monday afternoon.
In the evening, a dark-colored Kia Picanto is found near the water at the Empel junction along the A59 and A2. The police later confirm that it is Sanne’s car and that the two deceased occupants are without any doubt the two missing persons. Emotions are running high at the location: people are crying on the hard shoulder where the A59 and A2 meet.
October 20, 2022
Shortly after midnight, the bodies of Sanne and Hebe are recovered. It turns out that the police already searched this place on Tuesday after tips and tire tracks on the road, but the place where the car was eventually found was too far away. Further investigations are being conducted in daylight at the spot where Sanne and Hebe’s car left the road.
Mayor Roderick van de Mortel van Vught asks citizens who want to support relatives to lay flowers at the Hebehuis. “This way you give the family peace and privacy during this difficult time.” This place was founded by Hebe’s parents so that her complex care needs could be met.
The police announced at the end of the morning that there had been a fatal accident. “Our grief is intense and very great,” the families of Hebe and Sanne write in a statement. The families also express their gratitude to everyone who helped with the search and ask for peace so that they can process their grief.
October 21, 2022
The police will once again investigate the scene of the accident on Friday and will be present with several divers to comb the water. Hundreds of people have now laid flowers, drawings and cuddly toys at the memorial site in Vught.
October 22, 2022
A fundraising campaign is being started for Hebe’s funeral, raising almost 50,000 euros within a day.
October 27, 2022
Hebe’s family says goodbye privately in the DePetrus meeting center in Vught. The coffin is painted with flowers and the text ‘The sweetest and the softest’.
October 28, 2022
Family and friends say goodbye to Sanne Bos in a private farewell meeting at the Schoorsveld natural cemetery in Heeze.
December 28, 2022
After an investigation, the Public Prosecution Service comes to the final conclusion that there was a ‘fatal accident’. However, the parents still have questions such as how the car went off the road.
May 3, 2023
In the months that followed, there was a call to install a guardrail at the site of the accident. At the end of April someone goes off track again in the same place. Although Rijkswaterstaat initially says that a guardrail is not necessary, one is installed a few days later. A mixed feeling for the parents of Sanne and Hebe. “The fact that we lost her, but we didn’t have to, is unbearable.”
Read everything about the search for Sanne and Hebe here.