Dutch couple threatened after friend's death in Turkey

Haaksbergen couple Bjorn Breukers and Derya Breukers-Un received thousands of threats since their friend Joey Hoffmann was found dead in Turkey in August, Bjorn said to newspaper AD. The two only recently returned from Turkey and are now back in their hometown.

Joey traveled to Silifke in Turkey with the couple to help them set up a new home. The 21-year-old man disappeared on July 8th. His body was found over a month later, in a dried up riverbed near a spot where the three last camped together. The police found no signs of violence on his body. It is believed that he died of dehydration, though the Turkish authorities never officially confirmed this.

"We are doing well, even though I have been threatened a thousand times on Facebook", Bjorn Breukers said to AD from Haaksbergen. "Many" people believe that more happened in Joey's death than the couple said, the newspaper writes. Breukers called this nonsense.

According to Breukers, Joey was homesick, went off on his own and got lost. They tried to convince him not to do so, Breukers said. "We said: we have to stay together." But he did not listen. Instead of finding a shortcut, he got lost, according to Breukers. "We waited another twenty minutes under a tree, but Joey did not come back. And then we left, we could not stay there."

Very few people know that the couple returned to the Netherlands, Breukers said to AD. They also had no further contact with Joey's family.