Dutch police have arrested three young men in connection with the theft of stuffed animals from a memorial site for two murdered children, Jeffrey and Emma, in the town of Winschoten.
The suspects are described only as a 20-year-old man from Leeuwarden and a 20-year-old man and a minor, both from Winschoten. They were detained after videos circulated online showing the gang laughing and throwing the toys into the back of a car.
The cuddly toys had been left at the memorial by mourners as a tribute to the children, who drowned last week after being kidnapped by their father, Klaas Bijl. He drove the car carrying them into a canal amid a custody dispute with their mother. The tragic case shocked the country and prompted a flood of public sympathy, with thousands of people leaving flowers, candles, cards, and soft toys at the site.
In the Snapchat footage published online, the suspects can be heard urging each other to hurry while laughing and making light of the children’s deaths. “Take this one, bro. Quick,” one says. “They are dead and we are working here,” another adds, as cheering can be heard in the background. Police say the videos appear to have been posted by the perpetrators themselves.
🇳🇱‼️ Absolutely disgusting video from the Netherlands.
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) May 26, 2025
Migrant youths steal stuffed animals from a memorial created to pay tribute to Jeffrey and Emma, two children who died.
Not even dead children's memorials are safe.pic.twitter.com/N7tC680zxJ
After identifying the individuals, police arrested the 20-year-old first, an event that was itself recorded and met with anger from bystanders. All three suspects are expected to be charged with theft.
Officers recovered the stolen toys and returned them to the memorial site on Monday afternoon.
“This video has had a huge emotional impact,” police said in a statement, urging the public not to take matters into their own hands and to share any information directly with authorities. Mayor Cora-Yfke Sikkema of Oldambt echoed that appeal, saying, “We all saw the sad images of people removing cuddles from the quay. That makes us all very sad.”
As reported by Algemeen Dagblad, the family of the victims described the theft as “horrible,” with a spokesperson for a support group adding, “They can’t imagine what possessed the young people. They hope that people treat each other and the memorial site with respect.”
A crowdfunding campaign for the children’s funeral raised over €116,000 in just a day and a half from around 6,000 donors. “No, it won’t take away the pain. No, it doesn’t bring back our sweet miracles, but it does feel super good that there are still people with a warm heart,” wrote their half-brother Rubertus in a post on Facebook.