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The farm in Ruinerwold: what do we know and who is who?
After the discovery of a family in a farm in Ruinerwold, Drenthe, last Monday, an infinite stream of new facts, stories and rumours comes out. What is true? And who is who? A summary, based on the most important protagonists in this bizarre case.
Josef B. A 58-year-old carpenter. Worked with furniture and yachts. Was known to fellow entrepreneurs as an absolute craftsman. Grew up with four siblings on a farm in Waldhausen im Strudengau, some 150 kilometres west of Vienna. Moved several times, moved in with an aunt and came into contact with the Moon sect. He had two daughters (twins) with an Asian woman whom he met in the cult. The couple came into contact with Gerrit-Jan van D. and his wife through the cult. Josef regularly went to the Netherlands from the end of the 1990s on and lived there in various places. In 2010 he had himself deregistered in Austria and settled down in the farm on the Buitenhuizerweg in Ruinerwold.
There he lived and was busy working on projects. Neighbours thought he was staying there on his own. On Monday, however, the police discovered a father and five children in the farm. A sixth child had made contact with the outside world and ended up with the police. Josef B. refused to cooperate with the investigation and was arrested. Meanwhile the authorities suspect him of having held the family, or at least the children, against their will. The examining magistrate decided yesterday that Joseph should remain in custody for another 14 days.
Gerrit-Jan van D. : The father of the family that was found on Monday in Ruinerwold. 67 years old. According to the first reports that came out after the discovery, he was in bed as a result of a stroke that he would have had a few years ago. After a few days of investigation he was identified as a suspect. The Ministry of Justice suspects him of having been complicit in the same facts as Josef, and also put money laundering on the list of suspicions against Gerrit-Jan.
Has a very turbulent history. Born in 1952 in Herxen, the province of Overijssel. In the 1980s he and his brother Derk joined the then controversial Moon sect, a movement that is now called the Verenigingskerk. The brothers do this against the will of their parents. Gerrit-Jan becomes involved with the Dutch part of the sect, and attends meetings of the religious movement in Germany, more specifically in Munich. There or later in Austria he would have met his later wife. There are signs that he attributed supernatural powers to himself at that time.
In the meantime, he broke off all contact with his family, including Derk. He had at least nine children in total. Over the years he practised many professions, including running a small shop in Zwartsluis. His wife dies in 2004, when the family lives in Hasselt in Overijssel.
Disappeared from the face of the earth in 2010. When his mother dies in 2017, his family tries to find him, but he turns out to be untraceable, to the great sorrow of his father, a well-known regional author. Former villagers think he is long dead. Until he is found this week in the farm in Drenthe.
The Ruinerwold children: The farm in Ruinerwold is home to six of Gerrit-Jan's children, all of whom are now adults. They are four girls and two boys, between 18 and 25 years old. The children are currently cared for at a recreation park. The eldest son got the ball rolling in recent weeks. According to the information of the owner and visitors of the village pub De Kastelein, he goes out on foot a number of times, and ends up in the pub. There he tells his story piece by piece. Strikingly enough, this Jan (25) is very active on social media this year. He twitters about climate change. On LinkedIn he explains his plans in almost perfect English for the companies of Josef B., for which he says he works.
Very little is known about the other children. They grew up in the towns of Hasselt and Zwartsluis in the province of Overijssel. A former neighbour from Hasselt says that the children were born at home there, without the help of a midwife. They play a lot outside, in the backyard. As far as we know, they don't go to school. It is possible that the children receive home schooling. The school attendance officer visited once, reported the mayor of the municipality of Zwartewaterland yesterday, but didn't discover anything that was not right. Their mother dies in the same house in Hasselt, in 2004.
At this moment it looks like the children left with father Gerrit-Jan for Ruinerwold in 2010. The police have found indications that they did not stay there voluntarily. Police chief Janny Knol said yesterday in on Dutch TV that the children were getting outside, but only in the garden around the farm. Inside, they were in 'one enclosed space, which in turn was divided into small compartments'. According to Knol there was enough room for six people.
The other children: Yesterday it turned out that Gerrit-Jan has at least three other children. At a certain moment they, two sons and a daughter, fled the parental home in Zwartsluis, where Gerrit-Jan had settled after his stay in Hasselt. The family revealed the existence of the other three children in a press statement yesterday. In Zwartsluis they reacted to the story with great amazement. In this village the three (runaway) children were the only ones of the family who were known. No one knew anything about the other six.
The three were known as very nice children, who also did sports and went to school. After the break with their parents, at least one of the sons tried to build his own life in the region. He married, and is now divorced. This week he informed his colleagues about his link with the family found in Ruinerwold in an emotional story.
Gerrit-Jan may have even more children. The family's statement states that the three runaway children sought contact eight years ago. They ended up with 'a brother from a previous marriage of their father', grandparents, uncles and aunts. Who that half-brother is and who Gerrit-Jan was married to before, is not known.
The farm in Ruinerwold: The building at Buitenhuizerweg in Ruinerwold has undergone a major transformation in the nine years that Josef B. rented it. Outside, a huge vegetable garden has been laid out, with a number of covered areas. Wood is stored and a large fence has been placed around the garden. Also inside, B. was working hard, local residents and people who have spoken to him before know that he was doing a lot of work. In the building a sum of money was found this week, ranging from a few tens of thousands of euros to a ton. Josef B. was officially the tenant of the farm.
The farm is owned by the Ruinerwold couple Klaas and Alida Rooze, two prominent inhabitants of the village, actively involved in church and politics. Klaas is a prominent VVD politician. The couple has a lot of real estate in the region. Eight large farms stand out, including those on Buitenhuizerweg. A number of these buildings have a monumental status and have been beautifully renovated. The couple borrowed money from the National Restoration Fund for the renovations. The building at Buitenhuizerweg served as collateral for a loan. According to the owners, however, their involvement with this farm was limited.
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