Two missing person cases have been solved this year after bone fragments were discovered in or near Dutch waters, news website Nu.nl reported on Tuesday.

A bone found on the beach at Schoorl was identified as belonging to a Belgian national who had been missing for seven years, while a skull recovered north of Schiermonnikoog was linked to a man from The Hague, NU.nl said.

The Belgian bone was found in April by a doctor walking on the beach. She recognised a thigh bone as human and alerted the police, who confirmed after examination that it was human remains.

The Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI) then established a DNA profile, which was compared against profiles in Interpol’s international database. This produced a match with the missing Belgian. According to the police, the bone has since been transferred by an undertaker to the town where the man’s relatives live.

The skull was hauled up in mid-July by Urker fishermen around 130 kilometres north of Schiermonnikoog. A DNA profile linked it to a man from The Hague who had been missing for 15 months.

Police are urging fishermen and walkers to contact them if they come across bone fragments in the sea, dunes or forests.

Nu.nl did not say if either missing person was thought to be the victim of a crime,