Kidnapped boys' cause of death undetermined

Pathologists have not been able to determine the cause of death of Ruben and Julian, the two boys from Zeist who were kidnapped by their father in May this year. The Prosecutor’s Office OM of Utrecht said in a statement today that the autopsies of the bodies and toxicological examinations locally and abroad have come up inconclusive about the cause because the bodies had been in too advanced stage of decomposition when they were found.

Picture of Ruben and Julian on their 'missing' flyer. “The results of the forensic examination give no clarity about where the boys were killed, but we can conclude that there are no hints of someone else than the boys’ father being involved in their deaths,” the OM statement read. The OM also mentioned research into the state of mind of the boys’ father Jeroen D. (38) that had been carried out by the Dutch Institute for Forensic Psychiatrics and Psychology NIFP. “With the available information it was not possible to make a statement about whether a mental disorder influenced his actions,” the OM said. The boys’ mother and other relatives have been informed of the outcome of the examinations. The OM said that it will not make any more statements about the examinations. The kidnappings and deaths of Ruben (9) en Julian (7) had gripped the country. Reports are that Jeroen D. had planned everything in details from when he was informed that his visitations with his son would be altered; apparently he rewrote his testament and purchased what he needed to rob his sons of their lives. Jeroen was found dead on May 7^th; the boys’ bodies were located two weeks later in a ditch in the town of Cothen in Utrecht.