Missing Joey Hoffmann found dead in Turkey

The body of missing 21-year-old Joey Hoffmann was found in a dried-up riverbed near the Turkish town of Narlikuyu, the Turkish police reported on Monday, according to newspaper AD. How the young Haaksbergen man died is not yet clear.

On Twitter the Overijssel police said that, at the request of the Turkish police, they informed Hoffmann's family that a body was found in Turkey. "Further investigation is being carried out by the Turkish police, we make no further announcements about that", the police said.

Hoffmann was last seen in Silifke on July 8th. He traveled there with couple Bjorn and Derya Breukers to help them set up a new home. They camped on a piece of ground the coupe wanted to buy - near where his body was found. According to the couple, Hoffmann was homesick and left to return to the Netherlands. According to newspaper AD, he had an argument with Derya on the day of his disappearance.

The couple never reported Hoffmann missing. According to NU.nl, they say they only later found out from Hoffmann's family that he never made it home. Bjorn Breukers ended up in a Silifke hospital with serious injuries soon after Hoffmann's disappearance. It is unclear how he sustained these injuries. After that the couple also disappeared for a time, until the police managed to make contact with them early in August.

According to AD, the couple spent the two weeks after Hoffmann's disappearance in the Turkish city of Tarsus. They stayed at Derya's grandmother's home, who was in the Netherlands at the time.

How Hoffmann died is still unclear. The Breukers duo were questioned about his disappearance. They are not currently in custody, but were ordered not to leave Turkey.

The Silifke authorities only started searching for Hoffmann on July 28th, after his brother started handing out flyers about the missing Dutch man in the Turkish town. The investigation leader blames the late start to a delay in information reaching his corps, according to NU.nl. Information about Hoffmann's disappearance was sent to Silifke via the Netherlands, Interpol and Ankara. A team of the Dutch search dog foundation Signi traveled to Turkey on Saturday to help search for Hoffmann.

The Turkish authorities say they did everything in their power to find Hoffmann. According to AD, the Dutch police don't doubt this.