Missing boy, 4, found dead after ‘being kidnapped by babysitter’ in the Netherlands

A missing boy was found dead in the Netherlands after allegedly being kidnapped by a babysitter who was jailed for killing another child.

The body of four-year-old Dean Verberckmoes was discovered in Holland’s Zeeland province at 10pm local time on Monday after a massive police search to find the child.

Dutch police arrested a 34-year-old Belgian man in the Dutch town of Meerkerk earlier in the day, around 60miles northeast of where the body was found.

The Belgian child was last seen in the company of the man, only identified as Dave De K, the NOS public broadcaster reported.

They were last seen in the Belgian city of Sint Niklaas, near Antwerp.

The man regularly looked after Dean and his younger sister, the child’s mother Elke told the Belga news agency.

He was instructed to drop the four-year-old off at the grandmother’s house on Thursday last week but failed to do this.

It sparked a huge search for the child.

De K was in prison for eight years for acts of child abuse that caused the death of a two-year-old, prosecutors in Belgium told the news agency.

He served eight years behind bars of a 10-year sentence.

“The person concerned served his sentence, and the sentence came to an end in December 2018,” the prosecution service said.

After the man’s arrest, police had sent out an amber alert which is sent out in abduction cases with a photograph and description of the child.

A police helicopter was deployed and investigators found a “possible crime scene” before uncovering the body of the child.

Police in Zeeland said in a statement on Twitter, “We thank everyone for the help and our condolences go out to the family.”