In a manner that is eerily reminiscent of the Dutroux case that shook Belgium about a decade ago, we are seeing a déjà vu on our televisions these days that is gripping the nation.
In the early hours of 10 June two girls went missing from a village fete held in a suburb of the Walloon city of Liege. When they couldn’t be found all of the next day, a general alarm went into effect and the police shot into action trying to find them, so far without any results.
Careful to avoid any criticism and a repeat of the terrible drama that unfolded in 1995-1996, the police set out in huge numbers, for a manhunt, a recovery, an arrest, hopefully not an excavation…
Rivers have been dredged, fields scanned with sonar, empty factories searched with dogs – specialized in finding the living as well as the dead. In the mean time, a suspect has been apprehended (no confessions), mysterious text messages have been received (no results), and today, in one of the largest operations so far, an apartment block was turned upside down after another seemingly trustworthy tip had come in. The girls seem to have vanished.
With this, the investigation took a dramatic and crucial turn: the major searches have been suspended (there is nowhere to look anymore, really) and the international organization Child Focus will be issuing missing persons folders and distributing them in twenty-nine European countries. Instead of narrowing down the search, options have now been broadened, and success has become more and more of a wish instead of an option.
It’s a bad sign when this happens and although the police have been applauded for their thorough approach this time around, things are beginning to look bleak.
The girls are stepsisters, called Nathalie (aged 10) and Stacy (aged 7).
A lot will have to be researched and explained when, if ever, the girls are found. They disappeared at night, from a café their parents were visiting, the parents were apparently drunk, and the whole family and environment are of a dubious social quality. It may be fair even to call them trash, or scum – what have you – but for now the focus is on the investigation and criticism has been minimal. No matter how awful these people performed as parents and caretakers, everyone is still hoping for the best. Not much else to do, of course.
This time, if the worst happens, though, it won’t be a blotch on the reputation of Belgium or its law enforcers – who acted gruesomely incompetent before – but whatever the outcome, it’s another blotch on humankind. It remains being hard to swallow, knowing these things will seemingly never come to an end. Crappy, crappy world, man.
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