Netherlands - Cassandra van Schaijk, 17, Almere, 23 March 2007

imamaze said:

Links to Holland cases on Websleuths

Add headline of case with a link to the case where its being discussed on Websleuths

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Is it possible to feature the cold case of Cassandra van Schaik from Almere? I'm not related to or do not know anyone connected to it, but this case really grabbed me. I really want it solved. I went through all the information including forums etc, sort of trying to solve this case on my own, with a local map in my hand, tracking the places etc. Had my own theory which later proved to be what other's think too. Maybe there is international aspect to it, at least I think it deserves a try. It will require lot of translations of the materials about it but I can do that. Not sure if there will be anyone interested on here, because it's mostly US but who knows...

Jo99 said:

Is it possible to feature the cold case of Cassandra van Schaik from Almere? I'm not related to or do not know anyone connected to it, but this case really grabbed me. I really want it solved. I went through all the information including forums etc, sort of trying to solve this case on my own, with a local map in my hand, tracking the places etc. Had my own theory which later proved to be what other's think too. Maybe there is international aspect to it, at least I think it deserves a try. It will require lot of translations of the materials about it but I can do that. Not sure if there will be anyone interested on here, because it's mostly US but who knows...

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Can you provide a link with english information? Or maybe you can briefly explain the case here or send me a message. I am interested.

I couldn't find anything in English, but here's the complete public police file about her case in Dutch. http://www.politie.nl/gezocht/dossiers/2013/03-cassandra-van-schaijk.html

She went missing in March 2007 after going to a concert. Her body was found a few weeks later in a lake near her hometown. Witnesses say she was under the influence of alcohol and possibly drugs (a wrapper with unspecified narcotics was found on her) and she spoke with two men at a bus station. They think she went with these men (they 'offered her a ride'), because she missed the last bus. These men never came forward.

That's it in a nutshell really...

17-year-old Stratford, Canada-born Cassandra Schaijk had a Canadian mom and Dutch dad. She grew up in Almere-Buiten, The Netherlands (Holland) with her dad, stepmom and a half sibling. Friday March 23, 2007, she went to a club in Almere town center and called her dad that night to say she was catching a bus and would be home soon. She missed that bus and was never seen alive again.

Cassandra was caught on surveillance tape on a later bus talking to two men of 'Hindustani' appearance (probably meaning of Indian or Pakistani appearance). One was aggressive and seemed rough. Her last phone ping was the following day, Saturday, at Noorderplassen See (lake) in Almere. The lake was too far to walk from the club and no buses were running there.

Nearly a month later, April 14, 2007, a fisherman found a body floating in the Noorderplassen. It was Cassandra. Her cause of death could not be determined. Drugs and alcohol were present in her body and a wrap containing drugs was found with her. Her cell phone, passport, and the passport of a friend she was carrying, have never been found. Her purse (handbag) was found with her but her cosmetic bag was found some distance away. Police are treating her death as suspicious and say it's unlikely she went to the lake alone.

http://translate.google.de/translat...013/03-cassandra-van-schaijk.html&prev=search
June 2013, public prosecutors (DA's office) launched a cold case investigation and offered a €10,000 (about $11,500) reward for information.

May 2014, a 33-year-old, unidentified Almere resident was arrested in connection with the case, but released after three days. He told media police identified him as one of the two men on surveillance footage from the bus, the night of Cassandra's disappearance. He denies he was ever at the bus station that night. Police said other suspicions led to the arrest, not just the surveillance.
http://translate.google.de/translat...assandra-van-schaijk-gehoord.aspx&prev=search

Media Facebook link in Dutch that seems to show still from video - I haven't found the video itself yet. Unless it's there on FB. I'm not a member.
https://m.facebook.com/ColdcaseCass...4./532998233439631/?type=1&source=54&refid=17

Google translated links to several media articles:
http://translate.google.de/translat...dossier/335/cassandra-van-schaijk&prev=search

Hopefully, one of our Dutch posters can check my info and add details as I'm only working with translations.

There is a Youtube crime documentary about the case here, but I'm afraid I can hardly understand a word of spoken Dutch, so I can't tell you if it's informative or not.

http://youtu.be/DdNICLy_rpE

Oh, just realized Almere is really close to Amsterdam. I was confusing it with Aalsmeer, the flower town, which is miles away.

Thank you, Zwiebel! I'll poke around a little on your links when I have some more time later. :thumb:

One small remark for now, her last name is 'Van Schaijk' (and it might be interesting to know that in Dutch this would be capitalized by itself, but written with a lower case 'v' in combination with the given name - in this case Van Schaijk/Cassandra van Schaijk).

Just dropping this article here for now too.

In Dutch: http://www.panorama.nl/crimipedia/de-moord-op-cassandra-van-schaijk

Google translate link (I hope it works): https://translate.google.com/#nl/en...tip die leidt tot de oplossing van deze zaak.

Please note: Google Translate makes a mess of names. Her name is Cassandra Adriana van Schaijk; the name 'Desiree Rider' is Desiree Ruiter; the nickname one of the men is called is 'Wietman' which means 'Weedman' (as in marijuana); at one point it says 'stranded since the marriage of her parents' which should be 'since her parent's divorce' (she wasn't stranded anywhere and lived with her dad, stepmom and step-sibling in Almere-Buiten).

Other than that it's broken English but pretty self-explanatory I think, let me know if I can clarify anything in the translation.

Maybe someone can post a link to this thread on the Facebook page for Cassandra? Would that be a good idea? It's okay to do so in English, most Dutchies do well with English.

https://www.facebook.com/ColdcaseCassandraVanSchaijk

This is the official page of the police ('politie') team that was/is assigned to Cassandra's case.

One more article, from August 30th, 2013:

In Dutch: http://www.panorama.nl/blog/misdaad-blog/ultieme-poging-om-moord-op-cassandra-17-op-te-lossen.html

Through Google Translate: https://translate.google.com/#nl/en...eek. Koop ‘m in de kiosk of bestel ‘m online.

Notes: 'Panorama' is the magazine that published this article (and the previous one). It's a partial article and ends with 'to read more, buy our magazine at....'. The name of the dancing/disco she went to is 'Eindelijk' ('Finally'), located at the Festivalplein in Almere-Stad. Argument is at 2:40am ('twenty to three hours'). Bus left at 3:45am. Dad awoke at 7:30am.

Also, the timeline FB page: https://www.facebook.com/CassandraVanSchaijkTijdlijn

Lots of pictures.

Muy Curioso said:

Can you provide a link with english information? Or maybe you can briefly explain the case here or send me a message. I am interested.

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Here's the link to the official Facebook website:
https://m.facebook.com/ColdcaseCassandraVanSchaijk
It is in Dutch, hosted by the Dutch police therefore official.
The case is from 2007 about then 17 year old Cassandra who didn't come home after the night out at the disco club. Three months later her body was found in the water in nature area of the city. There is CCTV footage of 2 persons of interest as well as witnesses description (very basic). The case is still actively investigated by the police, although it's a cold case. This case gripped hearts of many people and is very mysterious. Several documentaries were made for tv (all in Dutch). My thinking is that it's possible that the person's involved might be put of the country as they were not from Dutch origin.
I can try to translate the dossier to English and publish here. I started thinking about this case a lot when I found out about it, had my own little theories what and where could have happened, later some of my theories were shared by the journalists who came to similar conclusions. That's how I became a sleuth even though I didn't know it at that time
I really want justice, I still think there is hope that this case will be ever solved.

I will post the link to that Dutch Facebook page. Yes they know English and maybe they can follow it here too.
My question is, if they are not of Dutch origin, how likely it is that they left Netherlands? Would it help if the Dutch police gives the details of those people to the interpol, it's a needle in a haystack but I think it's unlikely they stayed in the area, my opinion only.

JanetElaine said:

One small remark for now, her last name is 'Van Schaijk' (and it might be interesting to know that in Dutch this would be capitalized by itself, but written with a lower case 'v' in combination with the given name - in this case Van Schaijk/Cassandra van Schaijk).

Click to expand...

Actually there is another version of her name with Y in place of I. Van Shayk. Which is wrong but on some Google searches it comes up with an Y.
I started this topic so I'm going to do the translations. Living locally and speak fluent English and Dutch.

I do admire our Dutch posters with their language skills.

I have added the 'y' spelling of the name in the tags too, so anyone searching either version is sure to find this thread.

Oh, the name is spelt Schayk on the FB page, without the J or the I...??

The unsolved case of Cassandra van Schaijk (17), who disappeared in March 2007 and was found deceased three weeks later, is one of the cases featured on a 'cold case calendar', distributed by the Dutch police among the approximately 30,000 inmates in Dutch prisons. Cassandra is featured in week 15, in April 2019.

(Following is a copy and paste of my post in a separate thread in the Cold Case forum here on WS at Holland - Dutch police release 2019 Cold Case Calendar ).

For the third year in a row, Dutch national police have released a 'cold case calendar' featuring 52 of the nation's unsolved crimes and mysteries - one for each week of the year.
The Dutch police defines a cold case as any case since 1988 that carries a jail sentence of over 12 years and has gone unsolved for at least three years.

The calendar is distributed among prisoners in the European country. It is one of the efforts of police to hopefully solve more so-called cold cases. Since 2017 efforts have also been stepped up on social media and tv programs. "One of the most crucial tools in solving these cases is information from the public, from witnesses", according to a police press release.

The calendar method appears to be successful - after the first release in 2017, police received 78 tips about cases on the calendar -double the amount of the previous year-, of which 34 proved useful, and 9 cold cases were reopened.
In total, police received almost five times as many tips about cold cases in 2017 as compared to 2016, before the efforts to gain information were stepped up - 800 tips versus 164.
In 2018 police received 302 tips based on the calendar alone, with 40 being crucial and 13 cases being reopened.

The oldest case featured on this year's calendar is of missing Alwin Sterk (20) of Amsterdam, who vanished in 1972.
Other featured cases are of unsolved murders, unidentified bodies, and other missing people. The calendar is available in Dutch, English, Spanish, Arabic, and Turkish.

Link to English version of the calendar:
https://www.politie.nl/binaries/con...-181029-def-coldcase-kalender-2019-eng-di.pdf

Press release about the 2019 calendar, in Dutch: Cold cases op de kaart met coldcasekalender

Article in English about the calendar in 2017: Prisoners solve cold cases
(Above article based on this The Guardian piece: Dutch prisoners given cold-case calendars in hope of solving crimes )

English article about the renewed efforts to bring cold cases under the attention of the public, from 2018: Dutch police are using AI to pick out the most solvable cold cases

Going to ask again if we can have the title changed to reflect Cassandra's actual last name?
Mods? It's not Cassandra Schaijk, it's Cassandra van Schaijk.

See:
Cassandra van Schaijk

De Gouden Tip - 6: Cassandra van Schaijk

Tips cold case Cassandra van Schaijk stromen binnen - Binnenland - PAROOL

Cassandra van Schaijk op Cold Case-kalender

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The above links also give a good overview of her case. They're in Dutch, but that's nothing Google Translate won't fix.

Ahhh Cassandra, I hope justice is served one day for you. It has taken far to long....but miracles do happen.

@zwiebel Thanks for making this thread.

The Panorama article is republished in January 2019. It sums everything up quite good I think.

Misdaadklassieker: Het water zwijgt over Cassandra

The water is silent about Cassandra

After the hardcore party in Almere-Stad the girl walks to the bus in the middle of the night, alone. She will never come home. Cassandra van Schaijk's body (17) is found in the Noorderplassen. What the hell happened to that pretty girl? A new investigation team hopes to find the answer after six years. <It's now 12 years later>

Friday, March 23, 2007, a day like any other for 17-year-old Cassandra van Schaijk from Almere. She goes to school, walks to the neighbors under a gray cloud cover in the afternoon and then goes to visit friends (male and female). The youngsters chill out for a little while and under the deafening sounds of hardcore music Cassandra prepares herself for a night out.

Just after half past ten (10:30 pm) the friends take the train to Almere-Stad. Because there, in discotheque Eindelijk <Finally> on Festivalplein, the hardcore party Underworld is being held that night. For Cassandra, an ROC student with a side job as a supermarket cashier, it's the ultimate outlet. With everything that goes with it. Alcohol, drugs and loud music. She is in a very good mood when the doors of the disco open at 11:10 pm.

The night goes smoothly, until somewhere 3:10 the male friend gets into a fight with a few other party-goers. A doorman intervenes and evicts Cassandra's friends from the discotheque. Cassandra is allowed to stay and calls on her friends that she will later go home with her female neighbor. Shortly after half past three that night, Cassandra also has enough of the party. She is looking for her neighbor, but she has already left. Because the student has a fixed appointment with her father to be home at four o'clock at the latest, she will have to hurry. But she's already late. Arriving at the busstop, she sees the 3:45 hours bus leaving and she is not on it.

etc.