Katrien De Cuyper

**Katrien De Cuyper** (April 29, 1976 – December 17, 1991) was a 15-year-old Belgian girl who was murdered in 1991 in Antwerp, Belgium. Her murder remains unsolved despite a man being charged in 2006.

## Events

### Life

Katrien De Cuyper was born on April 29, 1976 in Antwerp, Belgium.

### Disappearance

On December 17, 1991, Katrien De Cuyper was visiting a friend in IJzerlaan, Antwerp, Belgium. She walked alone in the rain to try to catch a bus home in Brasschaat. Around 9:30 p.m. she called her parents she was taking the bus home. She ended up missing the bus though.

A 10:42 p.m. she was seen at the Les Routiers Café. She made another call, but this time it was to an unknown person. This was the last time she was seen alive.[source needed]

### Body found

On June 19, 1992 groundwork was being done at the port of Antwerp near Tijsmans tunnel. Katrien's nude body was found in a grave. It was found that she had been strangled, but it's unknown if she had been sexually assaulted.

### The first letter

On July 8, 1992, an anonymous letter was sent to the weekly magazine *Blik*. It was received a week later on July 15. In the letter the writer releases many details of the murder. The magazine's staff give the letter to the investigating judge in Antwerp. The letter was typed and posted from Zoersel, a municipality of Antwerp.

Initially, to not damage the investigation, Katrien's murder was not publicised and the letter is not published. Investigators assume that the letter and the writer are a vital part of the investigation.

In the letter, the writer suggests that he was looking for the red light district in Antwerp but got lost. He gets to the Bredabaan, a road, where Katrien is hitchhiking. He picks her up and drops her off at the entrance of the Antwerp-Breda motorway. He mentions that he checked her out because she was a "gorgeous girl." Later in the letter, he adds that he "even fell in love with her in the car."

He seems to blame himself for her death because he dropped her off and didn't drive her all the way to her home. That's why he says he has already visited her grave twice, including the day after her funeral, and will visit her grave every week.

He also uses the letter to insult Katrien's father. The writer says the person that Katrien called on the night of her disappearance was her father and that "he left his paternal duties and let her wander along the docks of Antwerp.

### The second and third letters

Four months later on November 2, a second letter is sent to *Blik*. Again sent from Zoersel. The writer emphasises that he picked up Katrien alive and dropped her off alive. He also provides a physical description of himself: between 18 and 25 years old, blond to light brown hair, and a normal physique.

A third letter is sent two weeks later. Once again he writes that Katrien called her father that night. He also writes that he and Katrien hadn't talked much because he was playing music loudly. However Katrien had complained to him that he had bad taste in music.

He writes that he could provide more information in court, but is unsure if he wants to. He also adds that he visited Katrien's grave on November 1.

### Suspect

In August of 2006, a 35-year-old suspect known as Karl V.R. was arrested for stalking. He was then charged for the kidnapping and murder of Katrien. There was not enough evidence against him for the murder and he was released.

It was found later that the letters sent had DNA on a stamp from this suspect. His claim to that was that he wanted to seem more interesting. A search of his house turned up child pornography a box full of newspaper clippings. He was prosecuted for child pornography in 2007.[source needed]

## News

*For news articles on Katrien De Cuyper, see here.*

## External links

* De Cuyper family tree • Ancestry (paywall)
* Death of Katrien De Cuyper • Wikipedia

## Sources

1. ↑ Death of Katrien De Cuyper • Wikipedia
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 11 Aug 2006: Angst om te getuigen of pervers genoegen? • Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch)