Three suspects have been detained in connection with the disappearance of a mother of 3 from Balen (Antwerp Prtovince) in 2010. News that there had been a breakthrough in the case was first reported by the daily ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’ and has since been confirmed by the Antwerp prosecutor’s office. One of the suspects has been arrested for murder. The role played by the two other suspects, one of whom is the woman’s former partner, is still being investigated.
A month ago, police circulated a search notice for Heidi De Schepper from Balen. The and mother of three disappeared back in 2010. She was 26 at the time of her disappearance. No one had reported her missing and it was only last year that the disappearance came to light after the Pupil Welfare Office tried to contact her regarding issues at school with one of her three children.
The Antwerp's public prosecutor's office confirms that 3 men have been detained in connection with the disappearance. “Yesterday, 3 people were detained in the investigation into the disappearance of Heidi De Schepper. They are being questioned about their involvement in the case”, Kristof Aerts of the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office told VRT News
The three suspects are aged 33, 39 and 55. The 55-year-old man is Heidi De Schepper's then partner. “The 33-year-old man was formally arrested by the examining magistrate last night on suspicion of murder”, Mr Aerts said.
This would indicate that the public prosecutor's office assumes that Heidi De Schepper was murdered. “The police investigation into the disappearance was a murder investigation from the outset” Kristof Aerts told VRT News.
However, the fact that the case was being treated as a murder investigation was not communicated clearly when the investigation opened last month. As yet no body has been found.
Suspect has previous conviction for murder
Further investigation should now clarify the exact role of each of the suspect in Heidi De Schepper's disappearance. The two other suspects will be questioned today (Friday). It will then be up to the examining magistrate to decide whether they too will be formally arrested.
The 33-year-old suspect that has been arrested on suspicion of murder was convicted in 2012 for murdering one of his best friends in 2011. The murder was committed in Balen, where Heidi De Schepper lived. He was released in 2021. According to the prosecutor's office, there is no connection between the two cases.
Disappearance went unnoticed for 14 years
Originally from the Antwerp district of Merksem, Heidi De Schepper had lived in Balen with her partner and three children since 2008. She is said to have led a rather isolated existence. She had had no contact with her own family since she was 18 years old.
Heidi's De Schepper’s disappearance was not reported by anyone. In November 2010 she was scrapped from the national register. This meant that as far as the state was concerned, she no longer existed in Belgium. This is done when a person no longer resides at the address, they are registered at for more than six months it is not known where they are living. The consequences are major as the person in question’s identity card is no longer valid, there are problems with regard to insurance and banking and they no longer receive polling cards or other official documents.
How Heidi De Schepper was removed from the register and by whom is impossible to trace. However, the fact that she had been scrapped from the national register explains why her bank, the municipality and other public bodies failed to raise the alarm about Heidi De Schepper’s disappearance.