Hofstade (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Authorities continue the urgent search for 19-year-old Adam from Lembeek, missing at Hofstade beach. His parents fear he may still be in the water.
He vanished yesterday while on a trip with his pals. A helicopter, diving teams, and emergency services are looking for the youngster once more today.
“There is a real chance that the boy is in the water, that is what we are focusing on today,”
Says Sabine Lievens of the public prosecutor’s office.
Due to the heat of yesterday, the boy and his friends sought refreshment at the domain of Sport Vlaanderen in Hofstade in Belgium.
“Around 16:00 his friends saw him for the last time,”
Says Sabine Lievens of the public prosecutor’s office.
“When they wanted to leave 2 hours later, they noticed that his belongings – including his mobile phone and wallet – were still on the beach.”
His friends first started searching the grounds themselves, but quickly raised the alarm.
“After that, a search operation was started immediately. 2 diving teams arrived on the scene, and a helicopter was also deployed to search elsewhere on the grounds.”
The public prosecutor’s office is also not ruling out that the 19-year-old became unwell on land.
“His friends saw him come out of the water, but did not see him go back into the water later. We have also searched the buildings, but he is not there.”
The boy did not come home last night.
“This is therefore a very worrying disappearance. The search has not yet yielded any results. We searched until well after midnight with drones, sniffer dogs and a diving team. At 9:30 we will continue the search intensively. The civil protection and maritime police will then search with drones and sonar boats. The chance that the boy is in the water is real. Although we are keeping all avenues open.”
The police are also examining the camera footage from the domain and questioning witnesses, such as the domain’s rescuers.
Adam’s parents are also present at the domain. They fear that their son is still in the water.
“He doesn’t have his backpack with him, which contains all his bank cards, his mobile phone, his shoes and his T-shirt. He’s not going to take the train like that? That’s why we’re almost 100 percent certain that he’s still in the water,”
says the boy’s father.
The boy’s father and mother have little hope that they will find their son alive.
“He is well cared for, but has had some medical problems since he was born. His last appointment was 2 weeks ago, because he has a hole in his heart. But that does not cause any problems in his daily life, he lives like everyone else,”
says the father.
“The next appointment for his heart was not until June 2026, so that shows that there were no real problems, otherwise they would have scheduled the appointment much earlier.”
The parents therefore do not think that the boy became unwell.
The beach area in Hofstade remains closed today.
“It is not possible to organize the search properly if there are tourists on the beach,”
Says mayor Bart Coopman (Iedereen Zemst).
“There were about 1,000 reservations. We communicated about the cancellation last night, and we will continue to inform everyone today. The police will lead away everyone who does not know yet.”
Access to the remaining domain will remain available. The scheduling for the sports camps will change, but they will still happen.
What clues are rescue teams focusing on in Adam’s water search?
Teams are focusing their efforts on scanning and searching lakes, ponds, or rivers in the recreational area utilizing diving teams and sonar equipment to find any submerged objects or bodies because there is a high likelihood that Adam is in the water.
Teams are instructed to search for minute clues that could point to Adam’s position or path, such as discarded clothing or personal belongings, footprints close to the water’s edge, disturbed grass, or any other peculiar traces.
In order to guarantee comprehensive coverage, searchers adhere to methodical grid or sector search patterns both on land and in the water. They frequently work in coordinated lines or employ triangulation based on any sounds or signals found.
Helicopters with sonar equipment and infrared cameras assist in locating heat signatures or other underwater irregularities that could point to Adam’s existence.
