Netherlands Jaïr Soares, 7, disappeared from the beach in Monster, 4 August 1995

[dotr]

Police and family hope for tips in cold case Jaïr Soares (7) | tellerreport.com

''On Friday, August 4, 1995, the boy goes to the beach with one of his four older brothers and his parents. A friend of the family joins up with her four-year-old daughter.

The group arrives around 3.30 p.m. The children play a little in the sea, but because it is a bit later in the day, the water turns out to be a little cold. They do not go any deeper than their ankles, the police outlined in Opsporing Verzocht ''.

''Area is searched by emergency services
The search the area, soon accompanied by the police and the rescue brigade. The search is in vain, as are the searches that have taken place in the last 24 years: no trace of the child has been found. That he ran into the sea or that he ran away is virtually excluded: the water was cold, and Jaïr was very aware that he was not allowed to stray just like that.

''According to the newspaper, it is taken into account that the boy has fallen victim to a sexual offense and that the perpetrator is or has been in such a clinic.

The police think that the child is no longer alive and hopes for tips from people who saw something on that particular day in August. The offender may also have talked to other people about the event, it is outlined Tuesday. According to the officers, Jaïr should have been taken by someone with a 'soft hand' because it was very busy on the beach.''

 

[dotr]

Welke gruwel veroorzaakte Christian Brückner nog? Speurders in heel Europa heropenen cold cases: “We zouden wel gek zijn ons niet op hem te richten”
Google translate..
June 9 2020
''What horror did Christian Brückner still cause? Investigators across Europe are reopening cold cases: “We'd be crazy not to focus on him”
Did murder suspect Maddie strike elsewhere?''

Christian Brückner, Jaïr Soares, Carola Titze, Maddie McCann and Inga Gehricke.

 

[TimesEight]

Im Dutch and I hadn't heard about this case until now. Thank you for starting this thread.

I really, really hope it will get solved and im wondering how many other cases CB is going to be linked to.

 

[dutchhelp]

There is an extensive video from Opsporing Verzocht from 2019 about this cold case:

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(in Dutch).
Also on the 2019 Dutch cold case Calendar: Jair slachtoffer misdrijf? - Jair Soares - Cold Case - coldcasekalender.nl (in Dutch)
The page from the Police on the case also has an age progression image, but not much further details: Jair Soares (in English)

 

[worldwatcher]

Bumping the case of little Jaïr!
CB is ruled out as a POI (CB is still a POI in the Madeleine McCann case)
Verdachte in zaak-Maddie McCann niet betrokken bij verdwijning Jaïr Soares

As it was posted in the thread of MM, it seems that according to some witnesses, that a local perp, who died before questioned by Dutch LE, was seen with Jaïr.

"Witness
A witness had told police at the time that he had left the beach at Monster that day around 5:00 PM. He realized he had seen something important. A policeman recorded his testimony as follows:

Walked up the dyke to his car. Saw a man walking in the direction of the new neighborhood (Kleine Geest) with a colored boy, 7 to 9 years old, following that man. Identification man: old, dirty man, unkempt, long straight hair + balding, about 50 years old, wearing glasses, model thin frame and round model. The man was wearing dark clothes.... "
Jair Soares (7), verdwenen en vergeten - Reporters Online

 

[dotr]

Bumping the case of little Jaïr!
CB is ruled out as a POI (CB is still a POI in the Madeleine McCann case)
Verdachte in zaak-Maddie McCann niet betrokken bij verdwijning Jaïr Soares

As it was posted in the thread of MM, it seems that according to some witnesses, that a local perp, who died before questioned by Dutch LE, was seen with Jaïr.

"Witness
A witness had told police at the time that he had left the beach at Monster that day around 5:00 PM. He realized he had seen something important. A policeman recorded his testimony as follows:

Walked up the dyke to his car. Saw a man walking in the direction of the new neighborhood (Kleine Geest) with a colored boy, 7 to 9 years old, following that man. Identification man: old, dirty man, unkempt, long straight hair + balding, about 50 years old, wearing glasses, model thin frame and round model. The man was wearing dark clothes.... "
Jair Soares (7), verdwenen en vergeten - Reporters Online

Nice to "see" you worldwatcher, thanks for the translated link!

 

[worldwatcher]

Nice to "see" you worldwatcher, thanks for the translated link!

YW @dotr.
It might be a lucky strike to find Jaïr (imo) due to the lack of interest (att) and followed leads, but a perp local who knew the area.., who took his secrets in the grave.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I recommend putting @worldwatcher 's link into a translator and reading the entire thing. The reporter describes his opinions about how Jair's case was handled, how information and witnesses about a potential perpetrator were handled, and has numerous touching quotes from Jair's family.

Jair Soares (7), verdwenen en vergeten - Reporters Online

Here is just some of it. The author's opinions:
Of the seven cases in the book "Murder Traces" that I recently wrote with former Detective Dick Gosewehr, this childhood disappearance and the lax attitude of the investigating authorities in this case affected me the most...

...The immediate area had been thoroughly searched by the police. With the help of witnesses, the investigation team had ruled out that the boy had ended up in the sea and drowned. The dune area and the hinterland had been searched for miles and miles for days. No trace of Jair had been found. So the child had not run away or got lost.

But the only plausible option that remained - an adult kidnapping, almost certainly from a sexual motive - had not been explored. In fact, barely a month after Jair went missing, the Hague police announced that it was closing the investigation...

That summer in 1995 a number of important witnesses had indeed reported to the police. People who had seen an unknown man leave the beach with Jair. This meant that the police had to have a description of the kidnapper. But the description of the kidnapper was never released: no witness was called...

On July 3, 2010, I played a lot in De Telegraaf. A full-page article with the headline "Jair Missing? He has been kidnapped " told a story that had not been told before. I had not received cooperation from the police. Instead of delighted with the renewed attention to this sad cold case, the police indicated that they did not want an interview...

I decided to publish the description myself. On March 28, 2011, my second story about this case appeared in the newspaper.
"Who is Jair's Kidnapper?" Was the bold but defensible headline above the article. I had literally copied the description of the suspected kidnapper.

That brought something. The same morning at half past seven my phone rang. A resident of Monster called in. Someone who had read the newspaper and said he recognized a notorious pedophile from the area in the description. That same morning I sat around the table with this informant.

Other witnesses also recognized [the same local man] in the description of the unknown man who left the beach with the dark boy in 1995.
There was only one big problem: [he] was terminally ill. Hurry was required...

In order not to break a possible police investigation into this possible suspect, we handed the tip over to the Public Prosecution Service after consultation with the Soares family and their lawyer...

You would expect the police and the Public Prosecution Service to proceed energetically...

Nothing turned out to be further from the truth. In November of that year, the tipster reported to me again. The police had left the case for less than six months and had only visited [the man] at the end of November. “Not a meaningful word could have come out of that,” my informant said indignantly. "Because a day later that guy died of his illness..."

...Completely unexpected, a new witness came forward. Rens, a 34-year-old man from The Hague, who had seen the missing of Jair in the summer of 2019 in a broadcast of Opsporing Verzocht. He urgently wanted to speak to us.
Rens told a remarkable story. In 2011 he went to the police in The Hague. At that time he had read my newspaper story with the description of the suspected kidnapper. He too was taken aback.
At the time, Rens stated to the police that as a ten-year-old boy - during the same period that Jair disappeared - he had been harassed by a man in a beach bar south of The Hague and near Monster...

Both Rens and his mother say that this man meets the description from the Jair case. Rens had described all this extensively to the police in 2011. To his surprise, he said, he had never heard of it again...

If anyone does read this book, please comment here. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on it.

 

[chaz]

Politie hoort man in zaak vermiste Jaïr Soares (7)
"MONSTER - There is a new development in the missing person case of Jaïr Soares, who disappeared without a trace on the beach of Monster more than 25 years ago. Police interviewed a possible suspect on Tuesday morning."

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I wonder why they suddenly decided to interview this possible POI.
This must be very difficult for Jaïr's family, and imagine if nothing comes of it.

 

[dotr]

• Possible turning point in the mystery of the disappearance Jaïr Soares (7) | inland

 

[worldwatcher]

(2 articles, I linked here, sadly there is no news, about Jaïr Soares, only a desperate appeal from his family, and a aging picture, wich you can view on Twitter or through the website of the article)
The offer of a reward of €250.000 for the golden tip, from Peter R. de Vries Foundation, expired on Febr 4.

Brother of missing Jaïr Soares: 'One person must know something'

"I wake up with it and go to bed with it," says Claudio Soares during the large-scale flyer campaign that was held for his brother Jaïr Soares on Monday morning.

For him and his family, the missing of their brother and son still dominates their lives. "That's because we still don't have answers. We hope to find them with this large-scale flyer campaign."

It is probably the worst nightmare imaginable for many parents. You go to the beach with the family for a fun day and you come home with one family member less. Without knowing what happened. No body, no trace, no clue. It happened to the Soares family.
WOS.nl - Broer van vermiste Jaïr Soares: 'Eén persoon moet iets weten'

MONSTER - With an aging photo that will be distributed in Portugal and Cape Verde, it is hoped that there will be more clarity about the missing person case of Jaïr Soares. After an earlier flyer campaign in Monster, about twenty tips have already been received about the case. "The photo was recently forwarded to us by the police to use in this ultimate effort to get more information," said Kelly de Vries, the director of the Peter R. de Vries Foundation.

Verouderingsfoto van Jaïr Soares verspreid in hoop op nieuwe informatie

There is © on the aging picture, so I post tweet from Peter R de Vries Foundation instead.Hopefully the tweet, with the aging picture of Jaïr Soares will be visible in this post.

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[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping up Jaïr's case.

 

[anijs6]

Yesterday marked exactly 30 years since Jaïr Soares disappeared from Monster beach.

 

[worldwatcher]

Yesterday marked exactly 30 years since Jaïr Soares disappeared from Monster beach.

Was just digging and scrolling through old newspapers (site) and I was shocked to realize, that Jair disappearance was around the time, An and Eefje were missing (Dutroux)

Four children and two young people from Belgium and the Netherlands have been missing since summer. Missing girl from Almere turns out to have been murdered. From our reporter AMSTERDAM
22-08-1995
The Flevoland police have arrested a 29-year-old man in connection with the murder of twelve-year-old Jennifer van Veen from Almere-Buiten. The suspect has no fixed abode or residence. He was arrested based on one of the tips received by the police. The girl's remains were found Thursday in a park in Almere-Buiten.

The girl has been missing since September 7th. An autopsy has determined that she died as a result of a crime. In the interest of the investigation, the police will not disclose how she was killed.

Four children and two young people have been missing in the Netherlands and Belgium since last summer. In early August, seven-year-old Cape Verdean Jair Soares was last seen on the beach near Monster, southwest of The Hague.

On August 10th, eight-year-old Manon Seijkens from Helmond left her parents' home; She was spotted again a day later, but has been missing since then. According to a police spokesperson in Eindhoven, it's possible the girl is still alive. "We're not ruling anything out. She was an adventurous child." A team of twelve detectives is still working on the case. The special investigation team formed to search for Jair Soares has been disbanded, but according to the Haaglanden police, the case is not yet closed. The boy may have drowned. In Belgium, two eight-year-old girls from Graace-Hoologne, a village near Liège, have been missing since June 24. The children went for a walk together in the afternoon. They were last seen on an overpass over a nearby highway near Liège, waving at passing motorists. Two Belgian friends, Eefje (19) and An (17), have been missing near Blankenberge since August 22. They attended a show by the Dutch hypnotist Rasta Rostelli. The two voluntarily allowed themselves to be hypnotized and returned to their hometown of Westende after the show. They never arrived.

​

Gevonden in Delpher - De Volkskrant

Also how the search continued, 3 years later,also a mention of Tanja Groen,who also went missing in 1993:

Missing Person Posters at Gas Stations
The Hague - Starting yesterday, missing person posters will be displayed at 500 gas stations in the Netherlands. This is an initiative of the Tros Vermist program, Texaco Nederland, and Multicopy in The Hague. The first series of posters shows the images of Marion and Romy van Buuren, Jair Soares, Jeroen van Dort, and Tanja Groen. In the case of new missing persons cases where quick tips from the public are essential, the photo of a missing person can be distributed throughout the stations within 24 hours. The posters include the phone number 0800-2080 for submitting tips about the missing persons. While both the judiciary and the police view this private initiative as a welcome addition, the Netherlands Police Institute also recognizes a risk. Citizens won't call in a tip twice. If people call this line, they won't also contact the police. If the Tros service forwards all responses to the police, there's no problem. But if that's sometimes forgotten, there's a risk that we won't be able to work with all the available information. That would be bad. ANP

Gevonden in Delpher - Algemeen Dagblad

 

[anijs6]

Also, interesting summary of the case and investigation by Stichting Coldcasezaken:

As mentioned, the police did their utmost to find Jaïr immediately after he went missing. They combed through a large area and spoke to various witnesses. Thanks to thorough investigative work by crime reporter Jolande van der Graaf, it emerged that a witness had described the appearance of a conspicuous man to the police. The witness had left the beach at around 5 p.m. and later realised that he had seen something unusual. The witness statement was recorded by a police officer as follows:

'Walked across the dike to his car. Saw a man walking in the direction of the new neighbourhood (Kleine Geest) with a coloured boy, aged 7 to 9, walking behind him. Description of the man: old, dirty, unkempt, long straight hair + balding, approximately 50 years old, wearing glasses, thin frames and round lenses. The man was wearing dark clothing'.

Although this was a strong clue, one that could have brought the case closer to a solution, unfortunately, the police did not do much with it. For example, the man's description was not released to the public. A missed opportunity.

It was striking that the Hague police closed the investigation just one month after the disappearance. However, in 2002, a DNA profile was made of Jaïr's family members, and an aged photo was made in America.

In 2020, the police made inquiries in Germany, where a German man was suspected of the disappearance and murder of British toddler Maddie McCann in Portugal. This case received worldwide attention in 2007 and the years that followed. However, German investigators indicated that no link could be established between the Portuguese case and the disappearance in Monster.

Jolande van der Graaf and her team have worked tirelessly on the case of Jaïr Soares. After she discovered that the police had apparently done nothing with the information about the man the witness had mentioned, she started her own investigation. She published his description in the newspaper, after which a resident of Monster contacted her. This person had read her appeal in the newspaper and said he recognized a notorious pedophile from the area in the description.

After some more detective work, it turned out to be an older man who was seriously ill. He did not have long to live, and Jolande's team, together with the relatives and their lawyer, decided that it was better to pass this clue on to the Public Prosecution Service. The man was unlikely to confess anything to a group of investigators, and there was a chance that they would hinder the investigation if they went to see him.

However, the police left the tip on the shelf for six months and only went to see the alleged suspect in November. It turned out to be too late. The man was no longer able to communicate coherently and died the next day.

 

[worldwatcher]

Also, interesting summary of the case and investigation by Stichting Coldcasezaken:

As mentioned, the police did their utmost to find Jaïr immediately after he went missing. They combed through a large area and spoke to various witnesses. Thanks to thorough investigative work by crime reporter Jolande van der Graaf, it emerged that a witness had described the appearance of a conspicuous man to the police. The witness had left the beach at around 5 p.m. and later realised that he had seen something unusual. The witness statement was recorded by a police officer as follows:

'Walked across the dike to his car. Saw a man walking in the direction of the new neighbourhood (Kleine Geest) with a coloured boy, aged 7 to 9, walking behind him. Description of the man: old, dirty, unkempt, long straight hair + balding, approximately 50 years old, wearing glasses, thin frames and round lenses. The man was wearing dark clothing'.

Although this was a strong clue, one that could have brought the case closer to a solution, unfortunately, the police did not do much with it. For example, the man's description was not released to the public. A missed opportunity.

It was striking that the Hague police closed the investigation just one month after the disappearance. However, in 2002, a DNA profile was made of Jaïr's family members, and an aged photo was made in America.

In 2020, the police made inquiries in Germany, where a German man was suspected of the disappearance and murder of British toddler Maddie McCann in Portugal. This case received worldwide attention in 2007 and the years that followed. However, German investigators indicated that no link could be established between the Portuguese case and the disappearance in Monster.

Jolande van der Graaf and her team have worked tirelessly on the case of Jaïr Soares. After she discovered that the police had apparently done nothing with the information about the man the witness had mentioned, she started her own investigation. She published his description in the newspaper, after which a resident of Monster contacted her. This person had read her appeal in the newspaper and said he recognized a notorious pedophile from the area in the description.

After some more detective work, it turned out to be an older man who was seriously ill. He did not have long to live, and Jolande's team, together with the relatives and their lawyer, decided that it was better to pass this clue on to the Public Prosecution Service. The man was unlikely to confess anything to a group of investigators, and there was a chance that they would hinder the investigation if they went to see him.

However, the police left the tip on the shelf for six months and only went to see the alleged suspect in November. It turned out to be too late. The man was no longer able to communicate coherently and died the next day.

The deceased crime reporter Hendrik Jan Korterink ( 15 mei 1955 – 6 april 2020) did write about Jaïr Soares, and I do believe to have read, (att) that he posted the same article under his name, can't find it anymore..
Found something else, that hasn't been posted here:

" I personally believe Jaïr never made it out of the dunes and that his kidnapper committed a terrible crime there. There's a shortcut through the dunes that allows you to escape unnoticed, and you'll eventually arrive at the grounds of GGZ Parnassia by simply crossing the road.

Because of the severity of the crime, I believe the perpetrator was someone receiving TBS treatment there. It's practically impossible to disappear unnoticed in the busiest part of the Randstad, especially if there's a description of the perpetrator.

A mental health clinic never shares information about its clients, and then the police can only hope the perpetrator feels remorse and talks.

The person the police suspected has died and taken his secret to the grave.

When I walk through the dunes there, I always think of Jair as a star and his murderer now burning in hell."
Van oude en nieuwe verdwijningen: Henry Pfaff en Jaïr Soares

 

[worldwatcher]

@anijs6 (I do think, that perp was preying on young, little boys, when re-reading this article, wonder if there are any old newspapers to be found, surely he was arrested or questioned, because of it, before Jair disappeared )


"Completely unexpectedly, a new witness came forward. Rens, a 34-year-old man from The Hague, who had seen Jair's disappearance on a broadcast of Opsporing Verzocht (Crime Watch) in the summer of 2019. He urgently wanted to speak with us.

Rens told a remarkable story. In 2011, he had gone to the Hague police. At that time, he had read my newspaper article with the description of the suspected kidnapper. He, too, was shocked.

Rens told the police at the time that, as a ten-year-old boy—around the same time Jair disappeared—he had been harassed by a man at a beach bar south of The Hague, near Monster.

Drag
Rens remembered being terrified by the man. Panicked, he immediately dragged his then seven-year-old brother outside by the arm and ran to his mother.

Both Rens and his mother say this man matches the description from the Jair case. Rens had described all this in detail to the police in 2011. To his surprise, he said, he never heard anything more about it.

We were astonished again. The police should have taken Rens' statement seriously and issued a call for witnesses. A call for men to come forward if they had been harassed as children in the same area and during the same period by a man matching the description in the Jair case and Rens's case could have yielded new clues.

However, this information, too, had been swept under the rug. Yet another oversight, as far as we're concerned."

Jair Soares (7), verdwenen en vergeten - Reporters Online

 

[dotr]

Google translation.
Aug. 13. 2025

De verdwijning van Jaïr Soares (7) blijft na 30 jaar nog altijd een ondoorgrondelijk mysterie | Panorama

Exact 30 jaar geleden verdween de 7-jarige Jaïr Soares op het uitgerekte strand van Monster, zonder een spoor achter te laten. Het is een van de meest mysterieuze coldcases die Nederland kent. Komt er ooit nog een doorbraak?

panorama.nl

'Exactly 30 years ago, 7-year-old Jaïr Soares disappeared on the stretched beach of Monster, without leaving a trace. It is one of the most mysterious cold cases in the Netherlands. Will there ever be another breakthrough?'

'Immediately, the police set up a major search. The rescue brigade sends boats onto the water, while the surrounding dunes are meticulously searched. The beach, the parking lot and the nearby campsite are also searched with all their might, but Jaïr remains without a trace.'

'In 2022, after years of silence, the Peter R. de Vries Foundation decides to bring the missing person back to the attention. The foundation is promising no less than 250,000 euros for the person who can provide the golden tip'.