Police have arrested a 36-year-old man in Landgraaf on suspicion of the kidnapping and murder of Nicky Verstappen, the 11-year-old boy who disappeared from his tent during a summer youth camp near Heibloem in 1998.

The man, who lives close to the heath where the murder took place, is suspected of being the writer of eight letters placed on the memorial to the boy in 2005 and 2006. Nicky’s body was found in undergrowth the day after he disappeared. A string of forensic bungles meant the cause of death was never properly established.