Murdered 14-year-old found in Leiden laid to rest

The funeral procession of 14-year-old Esmee from Hazerswoude-Rijdijk left from the Elza Hoeve farm in Leiden on Saturday around noon. The girl was found dead in Leiden on December 31. A 32-year-old Leiden man was arrested in connection with her death. He is believed to have been the girl’s gymnastics instructor. He is suspected of murder or manslaughter and sexual abuse.

A private ceremony was held on Saturday morning at the farm Esmee visited since her childhood and where she cared for a horse. After a short ceremony, Esmee's body was escorted to the Rhijnhof cemetery in a white carriage with large windows

At least a hundred people walked behind the carriage as it was pulled by white horses. According to a spokesperson for the family, Wilbert van der Post, it was Esmee’s biggest dream to work with the mounted police later on. The procession also consisted of horseback riders, cars and a pick-up truck with a photo of the girl. People who were standing on the side of the road put flowers in the bed of the truck as it passed.

Esmee was reported missing on the evening of December 30 around midnight. The following day, a group of athletes found her body in a park on the Melchior Treublaan in Leiden. Police ruled her death a homicide.

In a broadcast of Opsporing Verzocht on Tuesday evening, the police asked "urgently" for information about, among other things, the missing bicycle of the killed teenager. More than a hundred tips came in and the bike was found on Wednesday evening in the Van Riebeeckhof on the other side of Leiden, not where the girl was last seen.

In recent days, people gathered where Esmee's body was found to lay flowers, leave messages, and light candles.