tue 08 apr 2008 19:08:17 — witte de withstraat
belgian baker's bad luck
in parool today there's a story about marc baillius, a baker in belgium who, for a year and a half now, has been suspected of murdering his girlfriend anny ritzen. the police turned over baillius' bakery and ovens and deepfreezers looking for the body. the baker's clients stayed away, he went bankrupt and had to sell his house cheap.
now it turns out anny ritzen has just been living and working in haarlem the whole time. she'd had a quarrel with the baker, moved out and started a new life in the netherlands.
how did they discover this, you might ask. it wasn't through tireless efforts of police detectives or research in linked interpol databases. apparently one of her new dutch friends just googled her name.
the parool story said baker baillius was not especially interested in catching up with his former sweetheart.
the belgian newspaper het volk says it's not actually against belgian law to disappear without a trace. so for example they can't sue the lady for the cost of investigating her supposed demise (anny had no idea of the commotion she left behind). even her parents aren't allowed to know where she is now, cuz she prefers a clean break with her past.