Putten woman's body identified 29 years after disappearance
Almost 29 years after her disappearance, the body of Maria van der Zanden (22) from Putten was identified. She was found dead in a reservoir in Germany in August 1994, the same month she disappeared, the police confirmed.
“We are overwhelmed by this news. After almost 30 years, I finally know where my daughter is,” Ab van der Zanden, Maria’s father, responded on the Peter R. de Vries Foundation’s website.
Maria went missing on 6 August 1994. A neighbor saw her riding her bike, but after that, there was no trace of her. The police launched an extensive investigation, but it yielded no results.
Last year, the Peter R. de Vries Foundation teamed up with the police’s cold case team in another attempt to find out what happened to Maria. The Foundation offered a 250,000 euros reward for information leading to her discovery.
At the end of March this year, the German police reported that they may have a possible match for Maria. They found a woman dead in the Mohnesee reservoir near the German city of Soest, 240 kilometers from Putten, at the end of August 1994. The German police couldn’t determine the woman’s identity at the time and, after a short investigation, concluded that she likely committed suicide. The body was buried in a nameless grave with no DNA taken.
A new investigation identified the body found in Germany as Maria van der Zanden based on her fingerprints.
That doesn’t mean that the investigation is now closed, the Dutch police said. While the German police ruled her death a suicide, the Dutch cold case team wants to investigate the events surrounding her disappearance. They want to find out how Maria ended up 240 kilometers away from her home, among other things. They also want to know why the authorities didn’t link the unidentified woman found in the reservoir with Maria sooner.
“There are still many questions that we will hopefully get answered with the cold case team and the Foundation soon,” Ab van der Zanden said. “For now, we want to let this news sink in.”
The reward will not be paid out because Maria was found through police information, the Peter R. de Vries Foundation said. The 250,000 euros will go toward solving other cold cases.