Amsterdam man reported missing 21 months ago found dead in his home
The police found the body of a man in an apartment on Berthold Brechtstraat in Amsterdam Zuidoost on Wednesday. He had been dead for some time. In early 2023, neighbors had already reported to housing corporation Eigen Haard that they hadn’t seen the man in a while, local media reported.
Early in 2023, neighbors reported that they hadn’t seen the man in a while and thought he might be abroad, a spokesperson for Eigen Haard told Parool. “That is not strange and the rent was still being paid,” the spokesperson said. The housing corporation, therefore did not investigate.
In September this year, Eigen Haard received another report from a neighbor, again saying that they hadn’t seen the man in a long time. The housing corporation asked the municipality to see if they could track down the man in the country where he was believed to be, an Eigen Haard spokesperson told AT5. That proved impossible, so Eigen Haard asked the police to go check the man’s home this week.
The police went to check the home on Wednesday and found a deceased man inside. There is no evidence of a crime, the police said.
The man’s rent was still not in arrears, Eigen Haard said. “The rent continued to be paid. If that had not been the case, it would have been a signal that was immediately visible.” The spokesperson also stressed that the reports were not about smells or pests, but about the suspicion that the resident was no longer in the Netherlands.
Locals are shocked and wonder how the man could have been lying dead in his home for so long without anyone noticing. Parool spoke to several residents of the apartment building. They noticed no smells or vermin around the home, they said. According to neighbors, the man led a very secluded life and had few contacts.
“It seems as if the man never existed. I find it scary,” one local told the newspaper. “How can something like this happen? You have to look out for each other a little bit.”
Another neighbor told the Telegraaf that it concerns an older Surinamese man. “I think I haven’t seen him for over a year,” he said. It’s not really a “we know each other” neighborhood, he added. Still, he wonders how it is possible that no one missed this man. “You would think that the immediate neighbors would have noticed.”
This is “a sad case,” an Eigen Haard spokesperson told the Telegraaf. “But it does show that loneliness is a major problem that needs to be addressed. People who have few contacts and lead a very solitary life often literally and figuratively disappear from the radar.”
