DNA connects skull found in Belgium to missing Dutch woman
A skull found in Belgium has been identified after more than 30 years as belonging to Angelique Hendrix, a Dutch woman who disappeared in 1990 at the age of 18.
The skull was found in 1991 in the Belgian municipality of Maasmechelen, just over the border from the Netherlands, but a DNA match was only recently discovered. Dutch police believe Hendrix was the victim of a crime, they said on Thursday.
Hendrix left her family home in the Dutch town of Stein by bicycle on 13 July 1990. "Nothing has been heard from Angelique since. The stories about what happened afterwards differ," Dutch police said.
30,000 euro reward
The police say they do not know how long after her disappearance the young woman died. The Dutch public prosecutor's office is offering a reward of 30,000 euros for information that leads to a complete solution to the case.
The fact that a DNA match was only found after 30 years is partly because no systematic DNA testing was carried out in forensic cases in Belgium in the 1990s. It was only in 2012 that the DNA from the skull was taken and added to Belgium's database.
A change in the law in March made it possible to exchange DNA profiles in the Belgian database internationally, which led to the match with Hendrix.
In 1996, the investigation into Hendrix's disappearance widened when her friend Mirjam Verboort also disappeared. In January 1998, Verboort's remains were found in a nature reserve behind the church in Stein. According to the police, it was never clear whether these cases were connected.
#FlandersNewsService | © PHOTO SABINE JOOSTEN/HOLLANDSE HOOGTE
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