44-year-old Dutchman missing in Belgium for months, police say it is "alarming"

The Belgian police still do not know what is behind the disappearance of a Dutch man, who was last seen in Ghent at the end of January. It concerns the 44-year-old Maarten Dickhoff from Alphen aan den Rijn. On Sunday, the police placed a new search message and showed new images of the man.

According to the police, it is completely unclear what is going on. The Belgian police say in the Flemish program Faroek that they are taking into account "all possible hypotheses" and call his disappearance "alarming".

"As far as we know, he also has no ties to the criminal world," says a police detective in Aalter in the program. According to her, Dickhoff is "not a troublemaker, but rather someone who would help others if necessary."

Dickhoff is of average build, has short brown hair and a goatee. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing blue jeans, a dark down jacket, and sneakers, the police reports.

The 44-year-old Dutchman was seen on 23 and 24 January. He visited a casino in Ostend on 23 January, then drove to a McDonald's in Gouda and paid there at 7:19 p.m. He then drove back to Ostend, a distance of more than 200 kilometers. The Belgian police do not know why the man went back to Ostend.

A few hours later he was also seen in a parking garage, and in the early morning, he drove towards Ghent. According to the police, this is remarkable, because he had booked a hotel room in Ostend. Dickhoff was last filmed at a gas station in the town of Drongen. His car was seen again in Ghent, near the steel company ArcelorMittal.

Since then, there has been no trace of the Alphen resident. His dark Volkswagen Transporter van was found a month later in a parking lot in Aalter, about 50 kilometers from where his car was last seen. His phones, keys, wallet, and passport were no longer in the car, but his suitcase was. How the car ended up in Aalter is also still unclear.

The Belgian police say they have no idea who left the car there. "That's a mystery to us," says a police officer in Aalter in the program Faroek. "As far as we know, there is no one who knew Maarten around here."