Search for Dutch hiker on Saba enters 6th day as mission shifts from rescue to recovery
Search efforts on Saba continued on Tuesday for the sixth straight day for missing Dutch hiker Erik Matthijsen, authorities have said. The 53-year-old has still not been located. Ground teams are set to resume the search on Wednesday.
Saba’s lieutenant governor, Jonathan Johnson, and the crisis team have formally shifted the operation from a rescue effort to a recovery mission over the weekend, citing the time that has elapsed since the man went missing.
He was last seen on Wednesday, 13 May 2026, at about 11:00 a.m., when he set out for a hike near Well’s Bay. In the Netherlands, Matthijsen is employed as an ambulance nurse with the Regional Ambulance Service (RAV) Zuid-Holland Zuid.
Following a detailed review of CCTV footage and earlier leads, authorities have reduced the search area to the difficult terrain between Middle Island and the Sulphur Mine Trail.
In recent days, multiple hiking routes have been closed to the public to support search operations. One of them, the Bottom Mountain Trail, is scheduled to reopen on Wednesday.
Prior to the arrival of the Dutch USAR team on Sunday, search efforts had already begun on Saturday with the help of two specialist search dogs and their handlers from the French fire service in Sint Maarten.
The Dutch Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team, consisting of 11 personnel and nine search dogs, is among those involved in the search for the missing hiker. Matthijsen was on Saba working with a team constructing a Defense Ministry communications tower.
During the initial days of the search, helicopters and drones were deployed alongside ground teams, while boats were used to scan the coastline. Authorities say it is now unlikely that the man is still alive.
