On Tuesday afternoon, the body of 27-year-old Jonas Heggermont was found in Lichtervelde. There would be no foul play. The public prosecutor’s office in Bruges and Veurne confirms this.
Jelle Houwen & Laurence Torck
Yesterday at 4:17 PM
It was decided on Tuesday to continue the search for missing Jonas in Lichtervelde after camera images showed the young man heading to an industrial zone there. “Those images also date from early Sunday morning, but were taken near companies in the industrial zone of Lichtervelde,” Alain Remue of the Missing Persons Unit said on Tuesday morning. “We also see Jonas walking in those images. As the crow flies, that is one kilometer from the disco. Sniffer dogs and the police helicopter searched the area again. We noticed two large wells behind a company in Mortelputstraat. To ensure that he did not end up in the water, we asked fire brigade divers to search the water,” he said.
Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, the news arrived that Jonas’ body had been found in one of the water features. It was the divers from the Midwest zone who found the body of the 27-year-old on Tuesday afternoon. Those bodies of water were searched and the body was found in the third body of water searched. Malicious intent is excluded. Everything points to a tragic accident, but the exact circumstances are still under investigation.
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The Missing Persons Unit called in divers to help search nearby water wells. — © rr
Friends join the search
The 27-year-old disappeared after a night out in the Place 2 Party discotheque in Torhout, and since then there has been no trace of the man. After the police and the Missing Persons Unit viewed numerous images from the area on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, they started searching the site again before noon on Tuesday. Sniffer dogs were again used and around noon the police helicopter also took to the air.
READ ALSO. Jonas (27) disappeared without a trace after visiting a discotheque: “Very disturbing”
Jonas’ friends also decided to search the area in different teams. This also included Jonas’s friend who accompanied him to the disco on Saturday night. “We searched all the fields with our group of three friends and even walked from Torhout towards Ingelmunster on Monday,” Jonas’ best friend said earlier in the day.
“We really have to do something. Jonas liked to go out and have a drink, that’s true. That’s why he drove a van with a mattress at the back. He was always sensible enough to sleep there,” she adds. “The fact that he did not do this now and, according to the images in which he was last seen, even went the other way, frightens us enormously. We continue to search, but do not want to disrupt the work of the police or get in the way of the sniffer dogs. They are very understanding that we also want to help.”
The owners of the Place 2 Party discotheque in Torhout are also shocked. The business has been run by brothers Lorenzo and Bjorn Charle for 10 years. “We also really hope for a good outcome and are fully cooperating with the police to help in the search,” says Lorenzo Charle (32).
Jonas’s close circle helps with the searches. — © rr