Turkish police still searching for missing Dutch man

Twenty Turkish police officers and soldiers are searching the hills around Silifke today for missing 21-year-old Joey Hoffmann from Haaksbergen. They are using specialist equipment and two sniffer dogs flown in from Ankara. The dogs are trained to sniff out bodies, AD reports.

The search started very early on Thursday morning, as the day is expected to get very hot in the afternoon.

On Saturday 75 Turkish police officers with two sniffer dogs and two drones searched an outlying area of Silifke for the missing Dutch man, but without success.

Hoffmann disappeared early in July. As far as can be determined, he was last seen in the hills near the Turkish coastal town of Silifke. He traveled there with Dutch couple Bjorn and Derya Breukers to help them set up a new home. The three of them camped on a piece of land the couple wanted to buy. The Breukers couple say Hoffmann wanted to come home to the Netherlands and left them. He hasn't been seen since.

The Turkish police had the Breukers couple - who were also considered missing for a time - in custody for a few days earlier this month, but had to release them because there is no evidence of a crime, according to AD. However, they were ordered not to leave the country for the time being.