Amber Alert: Massive search for missing disabled girl and her caregiver

A massive search is underway for missing 10-year-old Hebe Zwart and her caregiving attendant Sanne Bos, who disappeared on Monday, likely somewhere between Raamdonksveer and Vught. The police issued an Amber Alert for the disabled, non-verbal girl. Cops and volunteers are combing the area.

“All roads and waterways on and around the route between Raamdonksveer and Vught are being searched,” the Oost-Brabant police said on Twitter. A police helicopter is searching from the sky, and officers and volunteers are combing the ground and water.

Sanne picked Hebe up from the ortho-pedagogical day center ‘t Opstapje on Sint Theresiastraat in Raamdonksveer at around 3:00 p.m. on Monday to take her home to Vught. Sanne was driving her Kia Picanto with registration number PR-425-K. They never made it to Hebe’s home in Vught.

The police have not said anything about what they think may have happened and whether Sanne was involved. “That’s a big question mark for now,” Dion Luitjen of the Oost-Brabant police said to NOS. “In any case, she is also missing at the moment. Whether she has an active role in the disappearance will have to be determined by further investigation. We are, of course, looking for the two and for all information that can help us find them.”

Sanne’s friend Mark told De Telegraaf that she would never do anything to harm Hebe. “There is no one who loves Hebe as much as Sanne. She didn’t do anything to herself either,” he said to the newspaper. “We consider three scenarios. The first is that she ran off the road and is somewhere or ended up in the water. Or they were both taken against their will.”

Mark and other friends of Sanne have been combing all the possible routes between Raamdonksveer and Vught since Monday night. “The signal of Sanne’s phone failed between hectometre pole 106.01 and 106.06. Monday evening, we drove slowly over the hard shoulder along the highway. One person combed the entire verge, another the ditches. But we didn’t find anything.”

Mark found it remarkable that Sanne’s phone went off. “She always has her phone on and makes sure it’s always charged. Sanne is very punctual. She also never skips a round of medicine for Hebe,” he said to the newspaper.

Hebe has multiple disabilities and is non-verbal. She has blond hair and pale skin and was wearing a bright-pink jacket, black skirt, and blue T-shirt when she left ‘t Opstapje on Monday. Hebe walks unsteadily with her feet out and has scoliosis. Sanne is 26 years old, with blond hair, white skin, blue eyes, and a slim build.

The police’s phone lines were down on Tuesday afternoon, so the police asked anyone with information about Hebe or Sanne’s whereabouts to call the emergency number 112.

A family friend is coordinating volunteers to help search for Hebe and Sanne. Her details can be found here.