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This sad news was spread today in Belgian newspapers.
Flemish papers:
Here, here and here
French paper:
Here
Spanish paper:
Here
Jeroen was walking the Camino Francès for the ninth time. He promissed his girlfriend, who walked with him the first three weeks, that they would marry when he returned from Compostela. But, it turned out completely wrong.
Friday, his body was found back hidden under a pile of compost at the recycling center of San Román de la Vega. According to local investigators Jeroen was dumped after he was run over by a car. They also investigate a possibility of murder, a few days before he was robbed and lost his money, papers and medication.
Please, remember Jeroen in your prayers.
Hi all,
This sad news was in the Belgian press this morning:
http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20160912_02466005
A Belgian pilgrim on his 9th camino was robbed and subsequently run over by a car near San Roman De La Vega.
Police suspect that he was the victim of a car accident after the robbery and that his body was then hidden and dumped in a garbage belt.
The robbery had left him dazed and confused and without the medication he needed at which point police took him into custody. After they let him go in the night he was run over by a car.
He was 2 months in on his 9th camino and had justed asked is girlfriend to marry him.
Been dealing with this news the last few days. I met "Geronimo" whilst i was in Finisterra in 2014 shooting the movie. Such a king and generous soul who became a friend of mine. RIP Jeroen.
We mods are hopeful that this thread can stay on the straight and narrow -- just the facts, please, tempting as it is to veer off into speculation.
I am sure that these days of uncertainty take a huge emotional toll on the family, so may the investigation proceed in a timely fashion without jeopardizing any future criminal prosecution. Buen camino, Laurie
That's the easiest. Either Jeroen's mother or telephone company can provide the number from which the call was made. Locating that number is again easy-peasy if there's a will/official order.I hope the police manages to locate the person who lent his phone to Jeroen so he could call his mother.
While I was waiting for a metro at the Oporto airport this spring a man approached me, saying he was German and been walking the Camino but had been mugged and no longer had ID or money. While he did not ask for money I gave him some, knowing very well this could be a scam, but prefered to go without 10€ than regret not having helped someone if the story was true.
But since this happened I kept wondering if people are no longer aware Consulates exist and that they are there to help in cases like this one. And like in Jeroen case as well.
An hospitalero, a fellow pilgrim, the guardia civil, the police, can help anyone contact their Embassy or Consulate. And yes, these offices may be a few hundred miles away, but they know how to help is such cases. You don't have to fend for yourself.
Before leaving home, google a bit and find out which cities you may be passing through, or are closest to your route are. If you get mug at least you know where they are and can ask for help to contact them.
I don't know how the Belgian or Deutsch Consulates work, but one can imagine they could contact the family to confirm the id, have money wired, what have you. Getting citizens out of a jam is a Consulate's job.
This is awful news. We will remember him.This sad news was spread today in Belgian newspapers.
Flemish papers:
Here, here and here
French paper:
Here
Spanish paper:
Here
Jeroen was walking the Camino Francès for the ninth time. He promissed his girlfriend, who walked with him the first three weeks, that they would marry when he returned from Compostela. But, it turned out completely wrong.
Friday, his body was found back hidden under a pile of compost at the recycling center of San Román de la Vega. According to local investigators Jeroen was dumped after he was run over by a car. They also investigate a possibility of murder, a few days before he was robbed and lost his money, papers and medication.
Please, remember Jeroen in your prayers.
The remains of Jeroen have been returned to his family.
The family has had no new information from the investigation.
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...ino-belga-murio-atropellado-leon_1108974.html
I can't imagine how sad that walk must be for her. It's not a movie...
I guess he didn't have a phone on him. Otherwise they could've re-tracked his whereabouts.One year ago, on september 8 2016, the body of pilgrim Jeroen Schelstraete was discovered without life in a waste treatment center. His case remains open.
A mystery surrounds the death of the Belgian pilgrim, Jeroen Schelstraete, 41, a resident of Ghent and a passionate pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago - he had travelled the route nine times. While today marks the first anniversary of the appearance of his body at the San Román de la Vega Waste Treatment Center (CTR) in San Román de la Vega, the Guardia Civil acknowledged yesterday that, although the case remains open, no progress has been made in the investigation of the case. The investigation is listed in a European database, which makes it possible to compare the different cases and to establish matches between them.
Schelstraete's trail was lost in León, when he was taken to the police station for identification, after he had chased a local resident of León because he believed that this man had stolen his backpack, with his documentation and money. After this event, which took place on September 6, the pilgrim suffered a hit-and-run - a van ran over him, according to his family - and it is unknown how the victim's body ended up in an open container, used to dump the remains of gardening work in the green areas of León capital. The container passed through the transfer station of Trobajo del Cerecedo, where its contents were loaded onto a truck. The body ended up at the CTR, an operator found it among composting materials.
Schelstraete had covered a good part of the pilgrimage route with his girlfriend, whom he had asked to marry him before they separated in Burgos, since she had to return to Belgium to start working after the holidays. The pilgrim had set himself the goal of reaching Finisterre.
After his death, a group of pilgrims decided to walk the Camino in honour of the deceased.
http://www.diariodeleon.es/noticias...caso-belga-encontrado-muerto-ctr_1186676.html
I guess he didn't have a phone on him. Otherwise they could've re-tracked his whereabouts.
Sad story nevertheless...
Such sad news, whether it was an accident or intentional doesn't change the fact that a soul has been taken under very suspicious circumstances. If there is a guilty party, then let them be found and processed accordingly.This sad news was spread today in Belgian newspapers.
Flemish papers:
Here, here and here
French paper:
Here
Spanish paper:
Here
Jeroen was walking the Camino Francès for the ninth time. He promissed his girlfriend, who walked with him the first three weeks, that they would marry when he returned from Compostela. But, it turned out completely wrong.
Friday, his body was found back hidden under a pile of compost at the recycling center of San Román de la Vega. According to local investigators Jeroen was dumped after he was run over by a car. They also investigate a possibility of murder, a few days before he was robbed and lost his money, papers and medication.
Please, remember Jeroen in your prayers.
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