Father and six children discovered on Dutch farm waiting for 'the end of times'

Father and six children discovered on Dutch farm waiting for 'the end of times'
The children apparently had no contact with the outside world and did not even know other people still existed. Credit: Wikipedia

The Dutch police have found a Dutchman who had been living with six youths in a cellar for years, waiting for "the end of times" on a farm in the northern province of Drenthe.

It is uncertain at this time how many of the youths are the man's children.

On Sunday, the police investigated the farm in the municipality of Ruinerwold after a completely confused 25-year-old man appeared in a café, saying he escaped.

The man had no idea where he was, according to Chris Westerbeek, the owner of the café. "He said he had not been outside for nine years," Westerbeek said, reports Het Nieuwsblad. "Later he said that he also had a brother and sisters who lived on the farm he escaped from. He was the oldest, and wanted to put an end to the way the family lived," he added.

The police then searched the farm, which was fully boarded up, and discovered a staircase to the basement behind a cupboard in the living room which led to a 58-year-old man and six youths between the ages of 16 and 25.

The youths apparently had no contact with the outside world and did not even know other people still existed. The family had a vegetable garden and a goat in the yard. Neighbours thought the man lived there alone.

The 58-year-old is currently not participating in the investigation and has been arrested. The rest of the family is housed in a recreation park in anticipation of the investigation. According to Dutch media, there is a chance that the mother of the children is buried on the grounds of the farm.

Maïthé Chini

The Brussels Times


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