Dutch citizen, the main suspect in murdering 11-year-old girl in Romania, kills himself. PG: There is no official proof of suicide

Update2: The Dutch citizen, the main suspect of the murder in Dambovita, has killed himself by crashing his car into a truck on a highway in the Netherlands, the Dutch Public Ministry has confirmed late on Monday.

The accident occurred in Escharen, with investigators confirming that the man who deliberately hit the truck was 47-year-old Johannes (Joop) Visscher, suspected and prosecuted in Romania for murdering a 11-year-old girl in a village in Dambovita county the past weekend.

A 11-year-old girl from Dambovita, who has been reported missing since Friday, was found dead on a field about 2 km away from her house in Gura Sutii village on Sunday. Her body was covered in a plastic bag and it was full of injuries. Policemen have several suspects, including a Dutch citizen who left Romania in the meantime.

On the other hand, Romania’s Prosecutor General, Bogdan Licu, has stated that the Romanian investigators don’t have the official proof that the Dutch citizen suspected of killing the 11yo girl had committed suicide.

“We don’t have the official proof he killed himself. When we have it, charges will be dropped against the offender, but the case will not be closed, for we are following several leads. All leads must be checked, he was in Romania several times, we know he was at least four times, but he might have been here more times. We don’t know if he had any accomplices. He used to travel in more cities in Romania. It’s a lot to be investigated, our colleagues from the Netherlands are endorsing us”, said PG Bogdan Licu.

Joop Visscher’s former fiance has told Dutch media that the man had been sentenced to prison and admitted for psychiatric care for sexual-related crimes in the past. The ex-fiance revealed that Visscher used to travel to Romania on a regular basis. She described him as “charming and intelligent” and said he used to work for an IT company.

The woman, who preferred to stay anonymous, also disclosed that she had found out about his past several months after they had begun dating and that made her end the relationship.

“I have a daughter from a previous marriage and she was young at that time. Soon after I found out about his past I ended the relationship. We should have got married in 2011“, the former fiance said.

The man was living in a village near the Gemrna border, in a farm he had bought in May this year. His neighbours said he used to hide from them.

Update1: The Dutch citizen, Joop Visscher, aged 47, has been prosecuted for kidnapping, sexual assault and manslaughter, with prosecutors finding out he used to be investigated for sexual offenses and violence in the past as well.

“A criminal record is under way. I can confirm the suspect is known for other sexual offenses, violence and driving under the influence. He has such a criminal record, according to our Dutch counterparts”, the chief of the Police, Liviu Vasilescu told Digi24.

The Dutch man reportedly came in Romania last Wednesday and left on Saturday. He was heard by the Romanian police officers, but, unfortunately there was not enough evidence at that time so that investigators could ban him from leaving the Romanian territory.

He has shut down his mobile phone as of Saturday.

Police officers saw the images from several cameras that captured moments with the girl and with other three cars nearby the girl. There are over 30 such cameras in the village of Gura Sutii, the ones of the municipality and many others belonging to the villagers.

The 11yo girl, Mihaela Adriana Fieraru has been reported missing on Friday after her brother announced the cops the girl had not returned from school. Searches kicked off right on the same day, with hundreds of officers, a drone and a helicopter being deployed.

Later on, the policemen studied the images from the video cameras on the girl’s route from school to her house and found out three suspect cars that were driven at low speed very close to the girl. A car driven by a Dutch citizen was seen less than a minute after the girl could be seen for the last time on a last camera. Investigators found out that the Dutch citizen’s car drove a short distance of 2-3 minutes in half an hour, which seemed very suspect.

The case prosecutor told mass media that the car driven by the Dutch citizen was seen when it left Gura Sutii village, and when it entered the next village 30 minutes later, considering that it takes 2-3 minutes to drive between the two localities.

Policemen have heard the three drivers, including the foreign one who said the car was rented, but denied he would have taken the girl.

Later on, the Dutch left Romania, with no legal measure taken against him, because at that time the girl had not been found yet, she was just a missing child.

The 47-year-old Dutch man has a criminal record.

Sources of the investigators say the images would have captured something pink, the girl’s trousers, in the car driven by the Dutch citizen. “The car was coming from the girl’s house. The girl was in that car”, the sources told local mass media.

The same sources say that the Dutch man drove the car chaotically, with the purpose of finding something, being labeled “as a conduct typical to a pedophile”.

The investigators are also searching the apartment rented by the Dutch man in Bucharest, to find DNA evidence.

The girl’s body was found on a field Sunday. It was wrapped in a plastic foil, with the chief of the Dambovita Police arguing it was the reason the body had not been noticed from the helicopter during the extensive searches earlier.

The coroners are to establish the cause and the time of death, but preliminary opinions have already confirmed the death was violent and occurred 48 hours before the body had been found.

Sources also said that the death was due to strangulation, not to blunt-force trauma. “She was strangled with her trousers. There is no confirmation of any sexual assault for now. She has signs of violence on her body and she was also bitten by wild animals after she died“, the sources revealed.