Body of teenager who went missing after a Grindr date found in a lake
Orlando Boldewijn's body was found six days after he was reported missing by family members
The body of a teenager who went missing after a Grindr date has been found in a lake.
Orlando Boldewijn, from Rotterdam, Netherlands, used the gay dating app on February 17 to meet another man shortly before he went missing.
A message was sent to Boldewijn’s mother claiming he was on his way home just after midnight on February 18. However, the messages weren’t consistent with others he had sent, NL Times reports.
Boldewijn’s family and friends declared him missing the next day, but police struggled to find him due to the lack of CCTV footage in the area. Officers also worked with investigators to search for potential witnesses.
Worry continued to grow as the teenager’s phone and bank accounts remained unused. Boldewijn’s friends told officers that he frequently made dates using apps and websites but always returned home. They also said it was unlike him to miss work or school responsibilities.
Police questioned one of Boldewijn’s dates, a 20-year-old man who claimed to have dropped Orlando off to meet his second date in Ypenburg.
Then, six days after he was initially reported missing, Boldewijn’s body was found on Monday (February 26) in the Böttgerwater lake in the Ypenburg district of Den Haag (The Hague).
In a statement, Police said: “Acting on new information in the investigation, the fire department and police went into the water on Monday afternoon using sonar boats and divers.”
Dutch police have revealed they will continue to investigate Boldewijn’s death and an autotopsy has been scheduled to determine a cause of death.