Belgian prisoner names killer, burial site of Dutch student who disappeared in 1993
A Belgian prisoner claims to know what happened to Tanja Groen, an 18-year-old student who disappeared in the summer of 1993 after a party in Maastricht. Johan V. (55) went to the authorities with information on who abducted and killed the young woman, an alleged accomplice, and where she may be buried, De Limburger and Het Belang van Limburg reported based on information received.
Tanja Groen moved from Schagen to Maastricht in 1993 to study health sciences at the university. She disappeared in the night from August 31 to September 1 after a party. It is believed that the young woman was attacked and killed as she cycled from the party on Hebernusstraat in Maastricht to her student room in Gronsveld. No trace of her has been found since, not even her bicycle.
Johan V. is from Herk de Stad in Belgium and was active in the soft drug sector. In 2002, he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Ron Bening (40) in his home in Heerlen. His trial was conducted in Belgium, not the Netherlands, because the Belgian authorities decided not to extradite him.
V. was mentioned as a person of interest in the Tanja Groen case because he lived in Maastricht in the early 1990s and was already known in the criminal underworld at that time. His role never became concrete.
Last year, he approached the authorities, saying that he knew who had kidnapped, sexually abused, and murdered the young Dutch woman. He also told where she is buried. The man he named as the perpetrator is reportedly still alive, so there is a chance of an arrest 36 years after Groen’s disappearance.
V. likely came forward with this information now to increase his chances of early release. Prisoners serving life in Belgium can apply for parole after 15 years. Various factors play a role in the decision, including good behavior and helping the authorities. V. can also count on a substantial reward if his information leads to a breakthrough.
Insiders told De Limburger that V.’s information is concrete enough that the authorities are considering a new excavation. In January 2020, the police exhumed a grave in the cemetery in Maastricht’s Heugem district following information that Groen may be buried there. She was not found. In 2021, the police excavated and searched the Strabrechtse Heide near Eindhoven, but also found no sign of the missing student.
In 2021, the late crime reporter Peter R. de Vries founded the De Gouden Tip foundation, aimed at raising funds for rewards in cold cases. Tanja Groen was the first case he focused on. De Vries was murdered later that year and did not live to see his foundation raise over €1 million for the golden tip in Tanja Groen’s case. The foundation is now called the Peter R. de Vries Foundation.
Jan Keulen, the lawyer representing V., declined to comment to De Limburger. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) also told the newspaper that it can not comment on this ongoing investigation.
The Dutch authorities investigated a link between Groen’s disappearance and the Belgian serial killer and rapist Marc Dutroux. Trace evidence from the Dutroux investigation has been compared with evidence from the Tanja Groen case. According to De Limburger, the OM has received the results of that comparison, but has not yet wanted to make it public.
