The hunt for Herman Roelf Ploeger, the Dutch national who allegedly fled the Netherlands one year ago after abducting his two young sons, led Criminologist Jacques Smits to Linden yesterday.
Smits’ search commenced around 10:00 a.m. yesterday after he received a tip that the children - Pascal Roelf Ploeger and Timeotheus Withold Ploeger - might be in the mining area. Smits told this newspaper last night that he had received information from Linden residents that Ploeger might be disguised as a woman. He said that the Lindeners were very helpful yesterday as they had helped him search various areas, where they believed the man might have been.
He said he had distributed photos of the man on the area and that ranks of the Wismar Police Station had helped search hotels. Authorities at Linden had also alerted officials at the Brazil border, Smits said. Private airstrips and the Cheddi Jagan International Airport had also been placed on alert.
Meanwhile, he said that a television crew had since arrived from the Netherlands to assist in the search.
Smits, who was hired by the children’s mother, Aneta Joanna Szadkowska, had earlier received information that Ploeger was in hiding in Corriverton, Berbice and that the children were reportedly looking pale and malnourished.
He said that he was depending on information from public-spirited citizens and the Guyana Police Force.
Smits had earlier told this newspaper that Ploeger, 34, allegedly fled the Netherlands one year ago with his two sons, despite having lost four separate custody battles in Dutch courts to the children’s mother.
According to Smits, the father of the two boys had twice before abducted the children during visitation periods and had managed to disappear with them approximately four to five months on the second occasion. The local police along with security forces in the neighbouring countries are all on the look out for the alleged abductor.