Four decades later, the investigation into Belgium’s “biggest criminal mystery” will be closed

A mystery that has gripped Belgium for decades may never be solved after the case ended on Friday.

Strange theories have been put forward to explain who is behind what local media called “Belgium’s biggest criminal mystery” of the last century. One thesis that was seriously considered said that this was an attempt to destabilize the Belgian state by current or former law enforcement officials close to the far right.

However, the case was never solved and no one was ever convicted, despite multiple overlapping investigations, numerous fingerprint and DNA investigations, dozens of exhumations, and even arrests that led to indictments.

“All possible investigative measures have been carried out,” Anne Fransen, head of the Belgian federal prosecutor’s office, who took over various aspects of the investigation six years ago, told reporters in Brussels. “Unfortunately we have not been able to shed light on the truth.”

In total, police checked “1,815 leads, old and new,” analyzed 2,748 sets of fingerprints and compared 593 DNA samples with those in the case file. They exhumed “more than 40 bodies for investigation purposes,” Fransen added.

Prosecutors met with the families of the victims, who had been left without answers for years, on Friday to inform them that the case was finally closed. Lawyer Christian Vandenbusch blamed the stalemate on a cover-up, and accused rogue agents of “sabotaging” the investigation to protect the perpetrators.