Netherlands Netherlands - Amsterdam - Vondelpark, Male, burned alive at national holiday, 30 april 1992

[dutchhelp]

Info from police:

On the 30th of April 1992, during Queens day a young man set himself on fire in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam. He died later that day of his injuries, his identity is still unknown.

Date Found: 30 April 1992
Skin color: probably white
Length: 169 centimeter (5'5 feet)
Build: Normal/Thin
Age: Young male is mentioned, which makes me think 18-30 range
Hair: Dark blonde straight hair of circa 12 centimeter (possibly in a style associated with Hare Krishna)
Foot size: 24.5 centimeter (8.5 US, 39.5 Netherlands)
Dentals: all teeth in good condition
clothes: Burned jeans, socks and underpants
Scars: pox prick at the outside of his upper right arm; various shallow transverse linear scars in the inside of the lower right arm (likely indicating self-mutilation, which would indicate that the male is left-handed)

Based on the hair it could be that the male was part of a Hare Krishna movement.

-----
My observations:
This case was recently published (after 27 years!). Vondelpark is a really busy place during Queens day, lots of people and children during the day doing the classical dutch selling of goods on Queens Day. Thus it is really strange that I have a hard time finding more details or any news articles (like the time he was burned). The hair and potential Hare Krishna involvement seems a really good lead as well. Not sure how big this movement is in Amsterdam, and how hidden the members are from the outside world or if they have a lot of foreign members.

Dutch Police (Dutch, graphic image!): Onbekende dode (jonge)man in Vondelpark Amsterdam
Dutch Police (English, graphic image!): Onbekende dode (jonge)man in Vondelpark Amsterdam | politie.nl

 

[dutchhelp]

I found

this video of the Vondelpark in 1992 during Queens day, it doesn't show the young man (or any sign of something like that happening) but it shows really well how busy the park was during that day.

 

[dutchhelp]

I looked through the papers of the 1st of May 1992, and see nothing being written about a man setting himself on fire. Which is really odd. Delpher Kranten

In the papers I can find only a mention of a man (probably homeless) found in the bushes at 1 May 1992: Gevonden in Delpher - De Volkskrant which does not really seem to fit to the story above. They describe this is a place where two girls where playing violin the day before (more to set the setting of the story), at 3.23 in the video there is 2 girls playing violin. But now I have the feeling that I'm connecting dots unrelated to the case of the burned man.

 

[Elainera]

Alwin Sterk is probably too old, he would have been 40 in 1992. But hair color and height match. He is said to have been staying "in the alternative circuit" which might fit with the possible Hare Krishna connection.

Alewijn Sterk

 

[ZaZara]

In 1992, Amsterdam had about 700.00 inhabitants.
For Queensday, one million visitors were expected to visit the town.

If he was with Hare Krishna, LE surely would have investigated that at the time? If he was with a local group, someone surely would have missed him. They were out in the streets at the time, dancing and chanting. Not wearing jeans btw.

If he was a visitor for the day, where would he have come from? In 1992, Queensday wasn't the international hype that it is today, and flights were still expensive.

Hare Krishna Amsterdam is on FB, website:
https://iskconamsterdam.nl/
They are a registered charity.

 

[ZaZara]

I don't remember hearing or reading about this case at the time.

Found no news about him in Het Parool, on May 2, 1992 they publish a small item about a dead man in the Vondelpark, he would have been 40 - 50 years of age and died of natural causes some months before.

Gevonden in Delpher - Het Parool

 

[dutchhelp]

I don't remember hearing or reading about this case at the time.

Found no news about him in Het Parool, on May 2, 1992 they publish a small item about a dead man in the Vondelpark, he would have been 40 - 50 years of age and died of natural causes some months before.

Gevonden in Delpher - Het Parool

The article you mention in Het Parool is about the same person as the article I found in De Volkskrant. Which both seem non-related to this case.

Very odd there is no news of this in any of the articles about the events that day. Maybe the police mention the wrong date? They are often quite careful in their details though and also without the date I can't find anything about a man burned in the Vondelpark.

 

[Rootje]

So glad there's a thread about this case. I found this case long before I joined WS. Been fascinated ever since. It's gonna be a hard one to solve, though.

 

[Rootje]

Amsterdam, Vondelpark (VERY GRAPHIC POST MORTEM!!)

Skin color: (presumably) white
Length: 169 cm
Stature: slim / normal
Hair colour: dark blonde (straight hair) about 12 cm long hair.
Sole: length 24 ½ cm
Teeth: complete and intact
Clothing: on the body the burnt remains of: jeans, socks and briefs
Scar(s): From a smallpox on the outside of the right upper arm > numerous superficial, transverse, linear scars on the inside of the right forearm (possibly as a result of self-harm which could indicate that this young man was left-handed.)
Additional: Given the hairstyle of this young man, it could be conceivable that he was possibly affiliated with a Hare Krishna movement at the time.

—

On Thursday April 30, 1992 (Queen's Day), a (young) man is found in flames in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam.
This (young) man has set himself on fire and died from his injuries the same day without anyone knowing his identity.

Thoughts? I find it extremely odd that no one knows anything. Also, if I were in a park seeing someone set themself on fire, I’d do something and not just stand there and watch. And why on Queen’s Day? The park must’ve been loaded that day. Strange choice.

Found this article on Wikipedia, perhaps it was some sort of protest? Would kind of match the Hare Krishna theory. Self-immolation - Wikipedia

More info on Hare Krishna: International Society for Krishna Consciousness - Wikipedia

Hare Krishna in Amsterdam: Hare Krishna's van Amsterdam (Dutch)

 

[Rootje]

In the end of the ‘90s, there’s a huge scandal about child abuse in the Hare Krishna movement. Maybe this has something to do with our JD? Also, based on the last link, the Dutch Hare Krishna’s were in the Vondelpark a lot. I couldn’t find anything about (ritual) suicide though, but I’ll look further.

 

[Rootje]

Hmm, as far as I could find suicide isn’t supported in the Krishna movement. No ritual suicides either. Is anyone more familiar with Hare Krishna? Or did anyone find anything else about suicide within the movement?

 

[Bit of hope]

If we look away from the suggestion: Hare K....were there any other groups, subcultures with this haircut in the 90's? Punk was long over....at least I think....the beginning of the house....

 

[Bit of hope]

I think it's safe to say this young man was very troubled....

 

[Bit of hope]

They say this was a young man...no age estimate....I don't have a pock vaccination scar on my arm, my generation doesn't have them, as far as I know...In 1992, I was 26, Dutch vaccination program....I know my aunt had it, she was born in 1949.....what does/can this tell us?

 

[Susikatze]

Also sometimes people have this scar after a chickenpox infection.

 

[Bit of hope]

Also sometimes people have this scar after a chickenpox infection.

But in the file they say it's a scar from an injection/vaccination.

 

[Susikatze]

I think it makes the same type of scar.

I hope he can still be identified. Pity nobody seemed to miss this young fellow.

 

[Bit of hope]

The pox....it's kind of lost in translation.....also the Immunization Programs may have been different in different countries (like we handle Covid19 differently)

There is a big difference between chickenpox (varicella zoster virus), what is a non-killing decease, mostly seen in children (it can leave tiny pox scars, but they are different from the injection scar) and the killing decease Small pox (variola) that is a serious infectious disease caused by the smallpox virus. Until vaccination, there were epidemics on all continents over the centuries with very many victims. Smallpox was a major cause of death in children until the eighteenth century: in Sweden and France, one in ten children died of smallpox.

The Netherlands; no chickenpox vaccination on a big scale.
Waterpokkenvaccinatie | RIVM
The Health Council in the Netherlands advises not to include vaccination in the National Immunization Program in the Netherlands, because the disease is not serious in our country. Almost all children get mild chickenpox before the age of five. As a result, the disease hardly occurs in adults. The vaccination is available at your own expense. You can inquire about the options at the GP, the GGD Municipal health service or the vaccination center.

The Netherlands; smallpox vaccination
In 1980, the world was declared free of smallpox and vaccination was discontinued worldwide. In the Netherlands, general infant vaccination was stopped in 1974. Ultimately, the government in the Netherlands abolished mandatory smallpox vaccination in 1976.
Pokken | RIVM.

I could be wrong, but the pox vaccination scar is most likely from a vaccination against the smallpox, so the deadly decease Variola. The relevancy of all this is that this young man, if he was Dutch, must have been born before approx. 1974 - 1976, but a least before 1980. This is all for the sake of an estimate of his age.

I was born in 1963....so where is mine?... I don't have a scar on my arm...maybe my parents were so sweet to give it to me on a less viewable place. You could choose that later on...

 

[Susikatze]

I know all that but sometimes people develop one or two "real" pox lesions with a harmless chickenpox infection (it may be some strange crossinfection) and that scars the skin like a vaccine against the real pox would. Pox vaccines at least in Germany and Austria were not mandatory for a long time and still young people have those scars sometimes without of course ever having had the real, deadly pox or being vaccinated.

Anyways, not sure whether the question if he was vaccinated or not would significantly aid in identification...

Do you know if they did an autosomal DNA profile on him?

 

[Bit of hope]

I know all that but sometimes people develop one or two "real" pox lesions with a harmless chickenpox infection (it may be some strange crossinfection) and that scars the skin like a vaccine against the real pox would. Pox vaccines at least in Germany and Austria were not mandatory for a long time and still young people have those scars sometimes without of course ever having had the real, deadly pox or being vaccinated.

Anyways, not sure whether the question if he was vaccinated or not would significantly aid in identification...

Do you know if they did an autosomal DNA profile on him?

It's not a question he was vaccinated, it's in the file. The issue is only interesting in relation to establishing an approx. age, what can help in the search for a missing person and narrow that down....not the scar "an sich" for that matter.

Please come with a source of the things you post. If what you say about the Pox in Germany and Austria (When did they stop vaccinating for small pox?) is correct we can add that to the info we have and possibly rule out the significance of the vaccination scar after all. Maybe it says nothing at all and we can't use it for narrowing an age down.

I do not know if they took DNA, this case came out of the closet not that long ago. How all of this works (in the Netherlands.....)I posted a lot about it in this thread Netherlands, Amsterdam center, whtmale, possible 20-30, doorway Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, Sept.1986