“The international chamber of the court in Amsterdam will decide whether the surrender is allowed. This hearing will be held within 60 days. In the meantime, the man remains in custody.” The 30-year-old is to stand trial for the kidnapping and death of four-year-old Dean Verkeckmoes. An investigating judge in Dendermonde requested his surrender to Belgium for the murder and kidnapping of Dean. The body of the child was found on Monday evening in the Netherlands, in Neeltje Jans, Zeeland. Dave De Kock was arrested at Meerkerk.
Dave De Kock appeared in court in Amsterdam on Thursday. On January 28, the Amsterdam council chamber will decide whether or not to keep him in detention.
More information regarding his actions has also been released by the Dutch police. Dave De Kock crossed the border into the Netherlands overnight from Friday to Saturday and left the body of the little boy in Neeltje Jans on Saturday followingnoon, according to a wanted poster published by the Dutch police. . The latter is looking for CCTV images along the route taken by the suspect who can attest to the presence of Dean in the car. “The suspect was driving a light gray Peugeot 206 with the registration number 2-ARC-250. The man took this road on Saturday January 15, 2022. The investigation is focusing on the presence of little Dean in the car or with the suspect,” said said the police.
The police investigation shows that Dave De Kock crossed the Dutch border around midnight on the night of Friday January 14 to Saturday January 15, 2022. “It seems that he crossed the Belgian-Dutch border at Sint Jansteen and then borrowed the Westerscheldetunnel. The man then continued on his way to Koudekerke, where he remained for several hours”, note the Dutch police. “During that night he also seems to have been in Vlissingen. Furthermore, early in the morning of Saturday January 15, he also went to Middelburg for a few hours, and returned to Koudekerke several times. It is not known if the boy was with him the whole time,” the investigators note. “After the last short visit to Koudekerke, the suspect drove to Neeltje Jans on Saturday followingnoon, where he left the little victim. After that he left the province of Zeeland.”
Belgian and Dutch investigators decided at a coordination meeting in Bergen-op-Zoom on Wednesday that Dave De Kock would be prosecuted in Belgium for Dean’s death. However, the Dutch part of the investigation is continuing in the meantime.
