Arrest fuels hope 30-year-old cold case is solved
The former partner of Annie De Poortere has been arrested on suspicion of murder public prosecutors in East Flanders have confirmed. The woman disappeared 30 years ago; her presumed body was found in a garden near her home in Sint-Martens-Latem (East Flanders) last weekend. What exactly happened 30 years ago is the subject of an investigation.
After a woman’s body was found in Sint-Martens-Latem outside Ghent, Annie De Poortere's 78-year-old ex-partner was questioned by police. After that interview, an examining magistrate arrested him on suspicion of murder. He is currently in prison, awaiting an electronic tag.
Annie De Poortere disappeared without a trace in 1994. For thirty years nothing more was heard from her. Until last weekend when as a result of digging in the garden of the house next to the one in which she was living in Sint-Martens-Latem at the time, mortal remains were found. A DNA test has yet to take place to officially confirm the woman’s identity, but at the weekend the public prosecutor's office said that there were indications pointing to Annie De Poortere.
The woman’s former husband had her declared "absent" in 1999 - five years after her disappearance. That is a legal procedure that has the same implications as a death. As a result, for example, the inheritance can be divided up or a marriage can be dissolved.