Police have arrested a 31-year-old man after forensic specialists found ”indications” of human remains at the house of a man who disappeared during the coronavirus lockdown in 2021 in Heerhugowaard, Noord-Holland.

Albert Visser was last seen in January 2021 but it was not until October that a friend notified the police.

Police did not immediately suspect wrongdoing because the 67-year-old was known to have financial problems. A spokesman said: “He could have moved abroad [but] based on the outcome of our investigations, we now believe he has died as the result of a crime.”

Visser lived in the house with his son and girlfriend. A neighbour told NH Nieuws that they frequently heard heated arguments in the house, possibly over a financial conflict the two became embroiled in following the sale of the house to the son. Visser continued to live in the house as a tenant.

Suspicion mounted when Visser did not show up at a court case over the matter at the beginning of 2021 and a diary the man kept of his daily energy use which stopped on January 10 of that year. That, police assumed, is a likely indication that he disappeared on that day.

Police would not confirm if the man they arrested was Visser’s son.