Missing entrepreneur perhaps in Thailand

The missing businessman Geurt Bagchus (61) from the Utrecht area Oog in Al has been found in good health on Thursday. Police are saying that the man is somewhere abroad, but are not saying exactly where, although the town rumor is that Bagchus is in Thailand. Family members remain silent, the Algemeen Dagblad reports.

Oog in Al has been living in unrest since Bagchus disappeared last month. He came to live there from Brabant in 2012, and was well known in the area for his shop, where he sells runner's paraphernalia and his position in the neighborhood committee. He also gathered sport-lovers in his running group and trained at the Hellas athletics club.

When he suddenly disappeared on the 11th of March, his neighborhood was in panic. Inside the shop, one of his shoes, his mobile phone and his glasses were found. His keys were also still hanging in the door of the shop.

At first, residents tied the disappearance to an earlier assault in which Bagchus was the victim. This week, an appeal to the court in this case revealed that the assaulter threatened him. The case continued.

From the beginning, the police ruled out a crime, but due to privacy reasons, never explained why. Rumors that Bagchus may have been trying to escape a tricky financial situation became stronger.

In Thursday, Bagchus seems to have been found in good health somewhere abroad. Because this is still a personal case, and for privacy reasons, the police will not give any concrete details.

"We ourselves don't yet know what is all going on and how it is going with him", says spokesperson Danielle Friedman. "We are now busy trying to contact the police in the country where he is. Then we will know more."

The Thailand rumor is going strong in Oog in Al. A tobacco shop employee, who works three doors away from the runner's shop, says that Bagchus has already escaped to Thailand before, after his shop in Tilburg went bankrupt.

After that, Bagchus re-married a woman from Utrecht who is as big of a running fanatic, and moved to her home town. According to the AD, she was not reachable for comments, neither his daughter in Loon op Zand.