Dutch man arrested on suspicion of holding family in remote farm against their will

Dutch prosecutors have announced that a 58-year-old man, arrested after the discovery of a family hidden on a remote farm, is suspected of holding them against their will and harming their health.

“He is being investigated under suspicion of involvement in illegally depriving others of their freedom and endangering their health,” announced the local prosecution service in the northern Netherlands.

He will appear before an examining magistrate on Thursday to decide if he will remain in custody.

The announcement is the first result in a major Dutch police investigation, launched after six people were discovered in a small, enclosed space in a farmhouse on the Buitenhuizerweg road in Ruinerwold village earlier this week.

When they were released, they told the police that they were a family of five children and a father, none of whom was officially registered as living there.

They said that they were adults “but this is being investigated”, according to police.

An older man who rented the building, named by Dutch media as an Austrian national called Josef B., refused to cooperate and was arrested. Now it appears that concrete charges may be laid against him.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, more details emerged of social media accounts that Dutch media have linked with a 25-year-old man, Jan, who sounded the alert on Sunday.

He wandered into a local bar, drank five beers, and told barman Chris Westerbeek that he had run away and that he and the rest of his family had been shut away from the outside world for nine years.

Dutch media have linked him to an active social media profile on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. On Facebook, this profile says he started working as “online store manager” for local company, Creconat, creating an online catalogue from June this year.

This is named in Chamber of Commerce records as one of several companies under the banner Native Creative Economy, apparently owned by the 58-year-old odd job and furniture maker who was arrested.

The social media accounts said to belong to the 25-year-old talk about joining climate strike action, trees, newborn animals and beefburger recipes.

The Facebook account apparently shows a nine year gap in posts from 2010 to 2019. However a link in the timeline – apparently posted in 2010 – saying that Jan had just moved to Ruinerwold was actually added on September 15th this year, as were three earlier posts dated as 2008, 2005 and 1994.

The account is now full of Dutch commentators pointing out the disparities. Meanwhile, neighbours interviewed by Dutch newspaper the AD reported never having seen the family but having spotted Josef B. with a car full of shopping and toilet rolls, which “seemed a lot for someone who lived alone.”

Other locals described him as a "closed" man with an unusual number of security cameras. “We understand that everyone has a lot of questions and we do too,” said the police in a statement.

“This is why we want to investigate thoroughly and carefully.” It added that the family is now in a safe place, receiving care.