Body found in Oirschot canal; concerns mount for missing kickboxer

The body of a man was found in the Wilhelmina canal near Rijt in Oirschot on Thursday afternon. The police are 99 percent certain that the body is missing Belgian kickboxer Marc de Bonte, his coach Ludo Kaethoven said to newspaper AD.

According to the coach, the police based their preliminary identification on the clothes the victim was wearing. Detectives came to inform his family.

A sailor noticed the floating body and called the police. It is still unclear how the man died and ended up in the canal.

De Bonte disappeared early this month. On Saturday, November 5th, he left a party at his gym and went to a friend in Turnhout. There he sent a message to his girlfriend in Best saying that he was on his way to her. But he never arrived.

The kickboxer's car was found on Wilhelminakanaalstraat in Best, a few kilometers away from where the body was found, a week after De Bonte's disappearance.

The police haven't officially confirmed the identity of the body. An autopsy will be done on Saturday.