Ben Vanleene, a 28-year-old Antwerp football fan, has been missing since Sunday evening after a football match between Royal Antwerp Football Club and Club Bruges.
Initially, authorities believed that Vanleene had disappeared in and around the Meir metro station.
However, after police discovered that the radio towers in Schijnpoort were the last to pick up Vanleene's phone signal and were able to access camera footage showing Vanleene walking out of the Schijnpoort metro station at 6:33 PM, police turned their focus to the area around the arena.
Subsequently, police launched on Tuesday evening a search in the area between the Sportpaleis and the Lobroek dock, including the Albert Canal.
Friends and family participated in the search, hanging posters of Vanleene throughout the neighbourhood.
UPDATE! De vermiste Ben Vanleene (28) werd zondag voor het laatst gezien in premetrostation Schijnpoort. Om 18.32u stapte hij uit het metrostel. Om 18.33u verliet hij het station. Sindsdien ontbreekt elk spoor. Hij woonde eerder een voetbalmatch bij. Meer: https://t.co/mH1fN8CfJe pic.twitter.com/vdRGihEQOf
— Politie Antwerpen (@PZAntwerpen) November 12, 2019
The nearly two-hour-long search yielded no results. However, the investigation is ongoing, police spokesperson Wouter Bruyns said to De Standaard.
Vanleene is about 1.85 meters tall and of a normal build. He has brown eyes and brown hair. At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing a khaki green jacket, dark blue jeans and brown shoes.
For the time being, authorities do not assume that Vanleene's disappearance is criminal in nature, explains HLN.
Evie McCullough
The Brussels Times