Over 1,000 tips in Dutch boy's murder case

The police received over a thousand tips in the investigation into the murder of 11-year-old Nicky Verstappen in Brunssummerheide in 1998. Around 75 percent of the tips are about the possible whereabouts of 55-year-old suspect Jos Brech, NOS reports.

According to the police, they are still receiving many phone calls. All tips are being investigated. The tips are handled by a special service center, which includes a detective from the Nicky Verstappen investigation team. He examines which tips need to be handled immediately, and which are less urgent.

The police aren't only receiving tips. People are also calling with questions and concerns about the period in which Brech volunteered as a scout or worked at a playgroup, according to the broadcaster.

Brech's online activity is also being scrutinized. RTL Nieuws reports that the man logged on to a German internet forum about bushcrafting on May 23rd. Though whether it was Brech himself, or someone using his login details, can't be said for certain. Crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, whose been following Nicky's case intensely and also assisting his parents, said on Twitter that he got information that Brech "logged in on the internet under a nickname" on April 27th. "That makes his last sign of life a lot more recent. Beautiful. We're getting closer", he said. 

The police reported a breakthrough in the Nicky Verstappen case on Wednesday. The 11-year-old boy was found dead near his summer camp in Brunsummerheide in August 1998. Twenty years later, Brech emerged as a suspect based on a DNA kinship investigation. The police believe that Brech is abroad. The man from Simpelveld left for a chalet in the Vosges mountains in France in October last year. He was reported missing by his family in April. His last sing of life was in February, according to the Public Prosecutor.