Witness reports seeing missing Dutch man 10 days after disappearance

Missing Dutch man Arjen Kamphuis was in Vikeså in the south of Norway with two other people on August 30th, a witness said to Norwegian newspaper VG. That is 10 days after Kamphuis went missing, and the same day his phone was turned on in the area for a brief time, NOS reports.

According to the witness, there was a good atmosphere and Kamphuis spoke Dutch and German with his two companions. They didn't have backpacks with them.

The Norwegian police said to the newspaper that they received several tips about a group of people in Vikeså, one of whom looked like Kamphuis. The police would like to make contact with the witness who spoke to VG.

Kamphuis, a 47-year-old cyber security and computer expert from Amsterdam, went on holiday in Norway in August. He was last seen checking out of his hotel in Bodø, in the north of the country, on August 20th. He was scheduled to fly back to the Netherlands on August 22nd, but never came home. His employer reported him missing on August 29th.

On Tuesday a fisherman found some of Kamphuis's personal belongings near the coast in the vicinity of Kvaenflaget, a small mountain between Fauske and Rognan located about 100 kilometers east of Bodø. Local television station TV2 reported that his identity documents were among the belongings found. According to NOS they were found floating in the water. A collapsible kayak Kamphuis bought before his holiday was also found.

Bodø is over 1,600 kilometers away from Vikeså. On August 30th his cellphone was turned on there for 20 minutes. After that the SIM card was removed and a German SIM was put into the phone.

The situation is complicated, Ancilla van de Leest, a good friend of Kamphuis, said on Paauw. "At the moment a number of facts are known and these facts are completely contradictory. What are we supposed to do with that?" she said. "A lot of tips were received from people who say they saw him. They can never all be true. That is up to the police to find out."

According to Van Leest, Kamphuis wouldn't just not return to the Netherlands. "He really did not have a plan to stay there. He made plans here again."