Mother of girl killed in apparent hit-and-run calls driver to turn self in

"Please," the mother of 14-year-old Tamar from Marken, who was found dead next to a road on Saturday morning, appealed to the motorist who may have hit the girl, speaking on talk show Op1. "Feel free to turn your self in. Release yourself from the idea of what you did, you can't change that anymore."

The police found Tamar's body on the shoulder of the Zeedijk near Zuiderwoude at around 4:00 a.m. on Saturday, a few hours after her mother reported her missing. The police believe the most likely scenario is that she died in a hit-and-run accident. "She was a sweet girl, very forgiving. She never stayed angry for long. Tamar was by no means a character who wanted to get someone else in trouble. I can't save Tamar anymore, but I still have questions," her mother Trintje Boes said

"We still have a lot of uncertainty," Boes said on the talk show. "I want to know: did she look back, did she notice that a car was coming? Questions like that. And they remain unanswered. Only the person in the car knows that."

Tamar left her home because she did not want to go to bed at midnight, her mother said. "She went for a walk and I went after her. And I didn't find her," Boes said. She asked a group of young people she found walking outside for help. They spent hours looking for the girl. The police eventually found her. 

"Release yourself from the idea of what you did," Boes said, addressing the person who presumably hit her daughter with a car. "You can't change that anymore. Tamar is gone. But we do have questions. What time did she die, did you see her, were you driving too fast, what condition was someone in? I think that's justice for Tamar. She was a very gentle child, very sweet. Who never hurt another. She was left on the road like an animal. She did not deserve that."

On the talk show, Huib Klink, pastor of the Protestant church in Marken, and a spokesperson for the police also called for the motorist to turn themself in. Pastor Klink said that it would be good for the motorist to come forward, stressing that this could also be "a tragedy" for them. "It is good to come to terms with yourselves." He also called on the Marken community to show compassion. "Things can go wrong in our lives."

The police spokesperson said that it is conceivable that the motorist left the scene in a panic. He called on them to contact the police, or approach a lawyer to find out what awaits them.