The two suspects who have made confessions in connection with the disappearance of 26-year-old Heidi De Schepper in 2010 have been questioned about the possible location of her body using virtual reality. The prosecutor's office in Antwerp explains: ‘The situation at the scene of her burial has changed a lot since 2010. With the help of VR glasses, investigators tried to obtain more leads.’
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Heidi De Schepper suspects questioned with VR glasses: ‘shown older images of burial site to get leads’
Colin Clapson
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For 5 days already, an industrial zone in Balen (Antwerp Province) has been examined in the search for the body of Heidi De Schepper. According to 2 of the 3 suspects in this case, she was buried here in 2010. The young woman's body has not yet been found.
In late January, police circulated a search alert for Heidi De Schepper. At the time of her disappearance the 26-year-old woman, from Merksem (Antwerp), had been living in Balen with her boyfriend and their 3 children for two years. Apparently, she lived a rather isolated existence with few social contacts.
Disappearance not reported
She has been missing since 2010, but her disappearance was never reported. It only came to light last year after social services at the school of one of her children sounded the alarm.
In late February, there was a breakthrough in the case and three men aged 33, 39 and 55 were arrested and detained. The 55-year-old man is her then partner, the 2 others are friends of the man. Not much later, two of the three suspects made confessions.
Burial site has changed
The suspects gave clues, but the area looks completely different 15 years later. The street is a cul-de-sac on the edge of an industrial estate. In 2010, there were barely any buildings here. Now the street is quite built up.
Because the surroundings have changed so much, federal judicial police investigators questioned the two suspects using virtual reality glasses.
‘The situation in 2010 was recreated as realistically as possible,’ explains Kristof Aerts of the Antwerp public prosecutor's office. The detectives hope that this will allow the suspects to pinpoint the place where Ms De Schepper's body was buried.