30 Years Later: Journalist Recalls Belgium's Dutroux Horror Summer

Thirty years after the horror summer of 1996, justice journalist Caroline Van den Berghe revisits the Dutroux affair, recalling the case that profoundly impacted Belgium. Van den Berghe, who covered the trial extensively, remembers the chilling scene of the victims' confinement in a cellar in Marcinelle.

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It was as if the revolution was about to break out.

She highlights how the initial disappearances of children like Julie Lejeune and Mélissa Russo were not taken seriously by the police. The liberation of Sabine Dardenne and Laetitia Delhez quickly turned to grief as it became clear that Julie, Mélissa, An, and Eefje had not survived their abduction. The "spaghetti arrest," which removed investigating judge Connerotte from the case, ignited widespread public anger, leading to spontaneous strikes and demonstrations. "People were furious. It sometimes became very violent. It was as if the revolution was about to break out," Van den Berghe stated, recalling the massive White March of 300,000 people on October 20, 1996.

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There is definitely a before and after Dutroux. These were different times, we lived more carefree.

Van den Berghe observes a distinct "before and after Dutroux" in society, noting a more carefree youth before the case. "Most people didn't have a mobile phone back then, and apps that share your location didn't exist at all," she explained. "So you were unreachable and had to trust that everything would be alright. It wasn't unusual for young children like Julie Lejeune and Mélissa Russo to go for a walk alone nearby."

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Most people didn't have a mobile phone back then, and apps that share your location didn't exist at all. So you were unreachable and had to trust that everything would be alright.

When the girls didn't return on June 24, 1995, their parents immediately panicked. They searched with friends and neighbors and alerted the gendarmerie, but there was no trace of the 8-year-old friends. Van den Berghe mentioned that large-scale searches as known today, led by a unified police force, did not exist then. Only the "vzw Marc en Corine" organization, founded by the fathers of two murder victims, helped parents create and hang posters with the girls' photos. The parents of Julie and Mélissa, and later An and Eefje, who disappeared on August 23, 1995, felt the police were not taking the disappearances seriously.

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The parents have first searched themselves with friends, acquaintances, neighbors and also alerted the then gendarmerie. There was no trace of the 8-year-old friends.