1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,040 Speaker 1: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,920 Speaker 1: those of the podcast author or individuals participating in the podcast, 3 00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:12,040 Speaker 1: and do not represent those of iHeartMedia, Tenderfoot TV, or 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:16,320 Speaker 1: their employees. This podcast also contains subject matter which may 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 1: not be suitable for everyone. Listener discretion is advised. 6 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 2: We saw two young girls walking along the street and 7 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 2: he said, do you want to earn one hundred and 8 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 2: fifty thousand Belgian francs? And I said sure, but how? 9 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 2: And then he said we had to kidnap the girls first, 10 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:43,879 Speaker 2: and then he'd show me. 11 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 3: These are the words of Claude Tirou describing a conversation 12 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 3: with Mark de True just after his release from prison. 13 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:55,640 Speaker 2: And I said, listen, I don't go around kidnapping young girls. 14 00:00:56,560 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 2: And he said, look, it's easy. You grab them from 15 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 2: behind the neck with one arm, cover their mouths. Then 16 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 2: you just throw them in the back of the van 17 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:05,679 Speaker 2: and you can knock them out if you need to. 18 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:09,560 Speaker 2: I said, no way, I'm not going to do that. 19 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 2: And after he dropped me off at home, I immediately called 20 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 2: the police and reported it. When I found out about 21 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:23,040 Speaker 2: the disappearance of Sheli and Melissa, I suspected that Mark 22 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 2: was involved, and I went back to the police. It's 23 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 2: too bad they didn't listen to me. 24 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 4: Psychopaths is somebody who understands emotions, and. 25 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 5: I told them it is a very exceptional that somebody 26 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 5: abducts two children at the same time. 27 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 6: To have been the end of it in nineteen six, 28 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 6: but my god, it was just the beginning. 29 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 7: I think Belgium was a paralyzed for perverts in those days. 30 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 3: Welcome to la monstre. I'm your host, Matt Graves. The 31 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 3: release of Mark da True after his first prison sentence 32 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 3: marked the beginning of a new wave of depravity that 33 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 3: would change this country forever. It began on the eighth 34 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 3: of April nineteen ninety two, the day de True was 35 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,639 Speaker 3: released from prison for good behavior after serving less than 36 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,079 Speaker 3: half his sentence for thirteen and a half years. His wife, 37 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 3: Michelle Martin, marked the day in bold in her journal 38 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:51,320 Speaker 3: with just one word freedom. Despite having later claimed that 39 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 3: she was manipulated, Michel was certainly excited to jump back 40 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 3: into life with de True. She had meticulously planned his release, 41 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 3: and their first stop was to see a doctor who 42 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:06,000 Speaker 3: granted them with disability status. This allowed them to claim 43 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,600 Speaker 3: benefits of eighty thousand Belgian francs a month, above the 44 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,639 Speaker 3: average salary in Belgium at the time. Always thinking ahead, 45 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 3: the True got the doctor to prescribe him powerful tranquilizers 46 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:22,880 Speaker 3: haldol and rhydnol. Hydnol is roughly ten times stronger than 47 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 3: valuum and has come to be known as the date 48 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 3: rape drug, often referred to as rufees on the street. 49 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 3: So the state granted a psychopath convicted of raping children 50 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 3: with early release, a free salary and a steady supply 51 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 3: of rufees and sent him on his way. 52 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 6: He was really a master manipulator. I mean, he is 53 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 6: a kibosh and known criminal who has been convicted of 54 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 6: raping and kidnapping children, and he somehow gets sort of 55 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 6: prison early and gets to stay to pay him a pension. 56 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 6: On top of that, they gave him the kind of 57 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 6: drugs used to rape people. It's crazy, I mean, what's 58 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 6: on earth the way they think you. 59 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 3: As soon as November nineteen ninety two, eight months after 60 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 3: being released from prison, the police were called to an 61 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,359 Speaker 3: ice skating rink where Da True was accused of molesting 62 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 3: a girl. Nothing came out of it, and De True 63 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:25,280 Speaker 3: wasn't arrested. In September of ninety three, a mand True 64 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 3: had met while in prison reported that he tried to 65 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 3: convince him to help him abduct a young girl, but 66 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:32,120 Speaker 3: this wasn't followed up either. 67 00:04:33,240 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 8: Then. 68 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 3: In nineteen ninety four, Datru and his wife welcomed an 69 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 3: eighteen year old girl from Slovakia who wanted to spend 70 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 3: the summer in Belgium. He slipped her some roofies and 71 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 3: then raped her at home. She didn't even know it 72 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 3: happened until it later turned up on a video cassette 73 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 3: seized at one of Datru's properties. Apart from his sexual crimes, 74 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,160 Speaker 3: the True dove right back into stealing for a living 75 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 3: as well in nineteen ninety four. In ninety four, De 76 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 3: Truz started working with another criminal from France named Bernard Weinstein. 77 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 3: Weinstein had recently moved to Belgium from France, where he 78 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:11,679 Speaker 3: had spent nine years in prison for theft and armed robbery. 79 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 3: He and De Drew worked together on various criminal enterprises, 80 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 3: mostly involving a vehicle theft ringd True's crimes with Weinstein 81 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 3: bring us to nineteen ninety five, where this series started. 82 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 3: Over the next fourteen months, de True in his accomplices, 83 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 3: would abduct six young girls whose names we should never forget, 84 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:40,919 Speaker 3: Julie Lejeanne, Melissa Rousseau, Anne Marchal, Effi Alambrichs, Sabine Darden, 85 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 3: and Letitia DALs. Despite the warning signs his criminal passed 86 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:50,919 Speaker 3: and reports that De True might be responsible for the abductions, 87 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 3: authorities failed to ever even question him. It wasn't until 88 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 3: August of nineteen ninety six, weeks after Letitia de Les 89 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,479 Speaker 3: was abducted, that Detrit True would be arrested. A witness 90 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 3: came forward to identify the license plate of his van 91 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 3: seen near where Letitia had disappeared. Eventually, he would admit 92 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,919 Speaker 3: to abducting Sabine and Letitia, and he led police to 93 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 3: his dungeon in Charlewai, where the girls were found alive. 94 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:20,160 Speaker 3: You'll recall from episode four that I interviewed a police 95 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 3: officer named Michel du Moulin, who got to True to 96 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:26,599 Speaker 3: admit to the kidnapping of Letitia d LEAs and took 97 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 3: him to the secret dungeon from where Letitia and Sabine 98 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 3: d'arden were rescued. After discovering the scale of d Truz's activities. 99 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 3: Police strongly started to suspect his involvement with a disappearance 100 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 3: of Julian Melissa in nineteen ninety five. De Moulain continued 101 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 3: to interrogate to True about this after the discovery of 102 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,600 Speaker 3: Letitia and Sabine. Here is words from an interview read 103 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 3: by an interpreter. 104 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 8: Mark de dru said that he kidnapped Leticia because Sabine 105 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,239 Speaker 8: wanted a friend. She wanted me to bring her Julie 106 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 8: le Jeanne, and I thought, wait a minute, Julie la jean. 107 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 8: I was convinced he made a Freudian slip. Julie le 108 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:09,280 Speaker 8: jean had gone missing way before Sabine was kidnapped. I 109 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 8: knew at this point that we were onto something, so 110 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 8: then I really started to squeeze him about Julian and Melissa. 111 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 8: After a lot of back and forth, he admitted that 112 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 8: Julie and Melissa had been in the dungeon, but that 113 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 8: someone else had brought them there. 114 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 3: Two days after taking police to where Sabine and Letitia 115 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 3: had been locked away, the True cracked again. On August seventeenth, 116 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 3: nineteen ninety six. He said that his friends Bernard Weinstein 117 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 3: and Michel Lievre had kidnapped Julian Melissa and brought them 118 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 3: to him. He said that they were at one of 119 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 3: his properties in a town called sarce La Boussier, and 120 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 3: agreed again to take police there. The excitement of finding 121 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 3: Sabine and Letitia two days earlier had given the families 122 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,640 Speaker 3: of Julian Melissa hope. After fourteen months of the worst 123 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 3: kind of fear and anxiety, they learned that the true 124 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 3: may have been involved with the disappearances of their beloved girls. 125 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,640 Speaker 3: The fathers of Julian Melissa wasted no time in heading 126 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 3: the Charlela to speak with locals and distribute flyers. In 127 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 3: interviews with the news media at the time, you could 128 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 3: feel a sense of hope in their voices. This is 129 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 3: the voice of Gino Rousseau, the father of Melissa. 130 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 9: Knowing that Sabine and Letitia were fond, I came to 131 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 9: deliver a three thousand flyers. 132 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 7: We've never lost hope. 133 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 9: But everything we've said since the disappearance of Julian Melissa, 134 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 9: and by that I mean the hypothesis of pedophilia and 135 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:47,680 Speaker 9: sexual kidnapping, if I can say that way, I ended 136 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 9: up being true. So we still have hope, but we 137 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 9: are frustrated because it's been fourteen months. But in a way, 138 00:08:57,200 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 9: we're happy to see that everything we've done for Julian 139 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:01,679 Speaker 9: Melissa has held other children. 140 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 3: And this is Jean de ni Le Jeanne, the father 141 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 3: of Julie from the same interview. 142 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 5: It's wonderful for the two families to be able to 143 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,080 Speaker 5: get their children back. It's a feeling we'd like to 144 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 5: be able to taste as well. We couldn't sleep last 145 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,960 Speaker 5: night because we're thinking that if the true says something 146 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:23,839 Speaker 5: that could help us find Julia Melissa, we don't want 147 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:26,599 Speaker 5: to miss anything. Do you think there could be a 148 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,240 Speaker 5: connection between these two cases. 149 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:29,320 Speaker 1: We think so. 150 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:32,560 Speaker 5: In any case, we hope so because it could be 151 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 5: the end of the thread we've been looking for fourteen months. 152 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:38,960 Speaker 5: And if we could find the end of that threat, 153 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 5: even if the girls aren't in Charlotte, Wah but somewhere else, 154 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:46,320 Speaker 5: if they came through here, it would at least be 155 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 5: a trace. 156 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: It's what we hope. 157 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 5: In any case. 158 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 3: It's hard to imagine actually hoping that your child was 159 00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 3: in the clutches of a man who was just arrested 160 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 3: for kidnapping girls and locking them away in a dungeon. 161 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 3: Such was the desperation of these families, it could mean 162 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 3: their girls were alive, certainly damaged, but at least alive. 163 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 3: The entire nation had gotten to know these families through 164 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:20,679 Speaker 3: their relentless campaign to find their missing girls. Most all 165 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 3: of us living in Belgium at the time were familiar 166 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 3: with the faces of these two cute little girls, Julian Melissa. 167 00:10:27,679 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 3: Everyone was on edge as news spread about the search 168 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 3: happening in the town of Sarcee la Buisiere. Douglas d' 169 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 3: konigo we heard from in episode two is an investigative 170 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:40,800 Speaker 3: journalist who covered this case closely from the start. He 171 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,200 Speaker 3: described what it was like to be caught up in 172 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 3: the whirlwind news cycle from the time that da True 173 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 3: was arrested and Sabinea and Letitia were rescued to win 174 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:52,439 Speaker 3: the search for Julian Melissa in sarsh Labuisier started. 175 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 7: So here we were the fifteenth of August nineteen ninety six. 176 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 7: I just came back from holiday with my colleague. I 177 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 7: was doing the news chief on this Thursday. So on 178 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:06,719 Speaker 7: Wednesday evening, I remember I got a phone call from 179 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 7: my colleague Walter at the book, but he said something 180 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 7: might happen with this Lititicia case in Vertrie. She had 181 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 7: vanished a few days before, and they just gave me 182 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:24,640 Speaker 7: the hints be alert for something happening with this Slatiticia case. 183 00:11:24,640 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 7: You had no idea where to start, where to be, 184 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 7: where to begin. I just remember this Thursday evening, must 185 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 7: have been around eight o'clock. There was a news wire 186 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:39,560 Speaker 7: on bellgaide the agency saying Letitia and being found a 187 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:43,360 Speaker 7: live press conference in Charlaha within an hour or so. 188 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:47,880 Speaker 7: This was the calmest day at work you could ever imagine, 189 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:53,839 Speaker 7: turned into the most crazy one ever. Be immediately sent 190 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:57,559 Speaker 7: a reporter to Charleaa. We started doing phone calls to 191 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 7: the police. You have to change the car of the newspaper. 192 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,480 Speaker 7: It was crazy, crazy evening, and we've been working up 193 00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 7: long past midnight, I guess. And then came the next day. 194 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 7: It was Friday, when Belgium woke up with images of 195 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:20,959 Speaker 7: Sabina and Lititzia getting out of this cage, welcomed by 196 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 7: hundreds of people. I remember the bonfire in Bertrid because 197 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 7: they had been copies of a four but a face only. 198 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 7: They had thousands, tens of thousands. The whole region was 199 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:36,439 Speaker 7: full of these papers. They decided to recollect all these 200 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,960 Speaker 7: photos of Lititzia missing to put them on a big bonfire, 201 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 7: and that was the biggest party they ever had Pertrie. 202 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 7: So for us journalists, we on this Friday, we still 203 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 7: were in a very small team. We started getting information 204 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,680 Speaker 7: about Mark True. We started getting innovation information by Michelle Martin. 205 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:00,800 Speaker 7: We think we made a special edition of twenty pages. 206 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:05,680 Speaker 7: We've been working like like hell this very first day 207 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 7: of the True affair, and we ended up in a 208 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 7: pizzeria around I think eight or nine in the evening 209 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,640 Speaker 7: with some colleagues. We just found that we deserved a 210 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:18,960 Speaker 7: good meal and a few bottles of good wine. Was 211 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:22,400 Speaker 7: really we thought it was the end of a joyful 212 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 7: moment in our careers, witnessing deliberation of these two girls, 213 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 7: seeing people dancing in the streets. Yeah, and I think 214 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 7: just before the pizza arrived, there was the first mobile 215 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 7: phone ringing and then the second. And in those days 216 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:44,120 Speaker 7: you had these beepers, and every journalist hurt the beep 217 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 7: and just a few words saying digging in Salabrizie. And 218 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:53,720 Speaker 7: I think from the very first seconds were digging. We 219 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 7: knew that Mark the True had a second house in Salabrize. 220 00:13:58,120 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: Yeah. 221 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:04,240 Speaker 7: From that moment on the the story being so joyful 222 00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:08,640 Speaker 7: turned into a real nightmare. So we didn't finish our pizza. 223 00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 7: I think some eight pizzas in their cars. We all 224 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 7: drove to Sleavisia, very difficult to find, but there was 225 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 7: no GPS in those days. I just remember standing there 226 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 7: in front of the little church of the very Salabia. 227 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 7: It is really the smallest village you can imagine, and 228 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 7: this whole village was one. Yeah, I was filled with 229 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 7: all these big cars, trucks, police cars of course were there. 230 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 7: I think we were like fifteen twenty journalists. We all 231 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 7: knew exactly what was happening, but who is going to 232 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 7: say it? And I remember this great friend and reporter 233 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 7: of the Flemish radio station was there really trembling, and 234 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 7: he said, I have to do a comment in the 235 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,680 Speaker 7: midnight news and the radio. Am I going to say 236 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 7: that they are looking here for Julia Melissa? Can I 237 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 7: be the first to pronounce these words. 238 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 3: Douglas and his colleague spent a long night in Sarche 239 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 3: Le Buissiere, and by the next morning more media had 240 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 3: flooded the scene around the search site, and everyone waited 241 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 3: in hope and fear. This is a news report from 242 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 3: that day. 243 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 10: We're here just a few meters from Detro's house. Since 244 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 10: early this morning. There's a certain effervescence here. The gender 245 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 10: Marie has sealed off the perimeter by a few hundred 246 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 10: meters to keep back onlookers. We can't imagine the worst. 247 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 10: We don't dare to pronounce the names of the girls 248 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 10: who've been missing for several months. The gendarmes are quite 249 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:49,840 Speaker 10: calm and they're not letting any information filter out. Everyone's waiting, 250 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 10: waiting for a sign or a gesture that could announce 251 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:58,600 Speaker 10: the fatality or the climax of one or the other cases. 252 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 3: The entire nation was glued to their television sets, hoping 253 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:11,120 Speaker 3: for the miracle rescue of Sabine and Letitia to repeat 254 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 3: itself for Julian Melissa. At one point, everything at the 255 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:21,840 Speaker 3: search site stopped and search and excavation teams halted their activities. 256 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:29,600 Speaker 3: At six point thirty pm on August seventeenth, nineteen ninety six, 257 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,080 Speaker 3: the bodies of Julian Melissa were discovered at the Truce 258 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 3: property in Sarch Labuisiere. They were found very deep in 259 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:48,680 Speaker 3: the ground with their bodies tightly tied up. It was 260 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 3: the most horrific outcome imaginable and the cruelest conclusion of 261 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:56,840 Speaker 3: fourteen months of pain and suffering for the families. 262 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 11: The accusations against Mark de Trux include kidnap, rape, and murder. 263 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 11: His victims were children. At one of da True's homes, 264 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 11: police found him digging out his basement but thought nothing 265 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:17,119 Speaker 11: of it. By his own later admission, he was building 266 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:20,159 Speaker 11: a prison to keep kidnapped children. By the time the 267 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 11: police found out, it was too late, the girls were 268 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:27,080 Speaker 11: already dead. Patricia Kelly, CNN, Brussels. 269 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,760 Speaker 12: Well, I'm driving down the E forty towards Liege from Brussels, 270 00:17:47,359 --> 00:17:51,360 Speaker 12: and I'm on my way to meet with Karin Rousseau, 271 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:55,720 Speaker 12: who is the mother of one of the victims, Melissa Rousseau, 272 00:17:55,920 --> 00:18:00,760 Speaker 12: who was abducted along with Julu Lejeanne in nineteen ninety five. 273 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:07,160 Speaker 12: And I'm actually quite nervous about this. Karine Rousseau is 274 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 12: an incredible woman. She doesn't really like to talk to 275 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:13,639 Speaker 12: journalists anymore. But after about a year of trying, I 276 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 12: finally somehow got her to agree to meet with me, 277 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,080 Speaker 12: and I don't blame her. I mean, for the last 278 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:29,880 Speaker 12: twenty six years, her life has been very difficult. Not 279 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:32,960 Speaker 12: only did she lose her child, but she was lied 280 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 12: to by the police and mistreated by the judiciary, and 281 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 12: then of course the whole media circus that followed and 282 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 12: to a certain extent still follows her today. Anyway, I 283 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 12: don't want to just drag her through all of the 284 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:52,399 Speaker 12: painful memories. I really want to ask her about some 285 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 12: of the loose ends, and of course I won't be 286 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:00,879 Speaker 12: the first to look into that, but some questions that 287 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 12: still really need to be answered. Here, okay, Here I 288 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 12: am pulling off. 289 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:24,720 Speaker 13: The bridge, arriving in goas a new liege, and I'm 290 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:30,960 Speaker 13: driving by this god forsaken bridge where the girls disappeared. 291 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,400 Speaker 3: Twenty five, almost twenty six years ago. 292 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:38,320 Speaker 7: I guess. 293 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 3: Kareine and Gino Rousseau are now two of the most 294 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,919 Speaker 3: recognized faces in Belgium. They never wanted it to be 295 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:52,679 Speaker 3: this way. Belgium is actually quite a separated country. The 296 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 3: Flemish speaking region in the north called Flanders and the 297 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 3: French speaking region in the south called Wallonia are very 298 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:02,560 Speaker 3: different on speaking. They don't always get along very well. 299 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 3: The families of Anne and Effia from Flanders and Julian 300 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 3: Melissa from Moolonia had created a bond that resonated with 301 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:14,679 Speaker 3: the entire country. Their very public struggle capture the hearts 302 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 3: and minds of normal Belgians in a way that's hard 303 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 3: to explain. The moment that Julian and Melissa's bodies were 304 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 3: discovered is far from the end of this story. What 305 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 3: follows strains the limits of believability. I wanted to meet 306 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:32,080 Speaker 3: with Karin Hussou and ask her about some things that 307 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:40,199 Speaker 3: still don't sit right with me to this day. She 308 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:44,360 Speaker 3: welcomed me warmly into her house. It was an unseasonably 309 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 3: hot day and Gino was mowing the lawn, which you 310 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:52,640 Speaker 3: can hear in the background. Luckily he finished up before 311 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:58,479 Speaker 3: I sat down with Karin to talk. You will, however, 312 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:01,440 Speaker 3: hear a lot of background noise as we sat outside, 313 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 3: and that infamous bridge over the highway is not very 314 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 3: far off in the distance. Karine looked great. It was 315 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 3: heartening to see her smile. You have to remember that 316 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:14,679 Speaker 3: we all got to know her on television in the 317 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:18,560 Speaker 3: middle of the worst circumstances imaginable. The footage of her 318 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 3: in the hastily organized press conference after the discovery of 319 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:26,240 Speaker 3: Julie and Melissa's body. Is the purest physical embodiment of 320 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:30,320 Speaker 3: suffering I think I've ever seen. She speaks extremely well, 321 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:33,960 Speaker 3: with a distinguishable twang of Liege accent, which she says 322 00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 3: she doesn't like, but I find charming. I'm relieved that 323 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 3: the atmosphere is comfortable and that she seems relaxed. I'd 324 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:46,720 Speaker 3: like to share something from an incredible book she published 325 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 3: in twenty sixteen called Fourteen Months. It's a collection of 326 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 3: diary entry she made during the fourteen months between when 327 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 3: Melissa disappeared and her body was found. I asked Karine 328 00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 3: if she might be willing to read a powerful passage 329 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,879 Speaker 3: from this book, and she agreed. She wrote it on 330 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 3: December twenty seventh, nineteen ninety five, eight months before learning 331 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 3: of the death of her beautiful child, Melissa. 332 00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:19,399 Speaker 14: Melissa, Mimi, Mimi, my little girl. I call you in 333 00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 14: the empty house, just to hear my voice resonate with 334 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:25,600 Speaker 14: your name like before, and a hope for a tenth 335 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 14: of a second that you'll answer. But alas I only 336 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 14: hit a wall of silence, the silence that is driving 337 00:22:33,640 --> 00:22:37,360 Speaker 14: me crazy. That wraps me up in thickens. The silence 338 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,879 Speaker 14: that is drowning me, silence of your absence, silence of 339 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:45,280 Speaker 14: your disappearance, silence of the legal system, silence of the powerful, 340 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:51,800 Speaker 14: scandalous silence, accomplice of crime and misfortune. I could never 341 00:22:51,880 --> 00:22:56,399 Speaker 14: stand the silences, the things unsaid. Do you remember? I 342 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 14: could never stand to let any silence come between us, 343 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:02,480 Speaker 14: between your father and me, between your brother and you, 344 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:07,639 Speaker 14: between any of you and me. I've always been a 345 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:11,439 Speaker 14: breaker of silence, no matter what the price, even if 346 00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:15,920 Speaker 14: it hurt for me. Silence is the beginning of the end, 347 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:20,560 Speaker 14: a harbinger of death, the opposite of life. Never could 348 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:21,640 Speaker 14: I stand silence. 349 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 3: This was written on a cold December night, six months 350 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:36,360 Speaker 3: after the disappearance of Melissa. The silence Karin wrote about 351 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:39,200 Speaker 3: then was not only about missing a rambunctious little girl 352 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 3: running around the house. It was about the intolerable silence 353 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 3: of police and the judiciary. Was this silence just a 354 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:50,919 Speaker 3: normal course of action for a case that had gone cold, 355 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 3: or could it be something much more sinister. It's hard 356 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 3: to imagine that police might have had an idea of 357 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:00,919 Speaker 3: who kidnapped Julian Melissa, but never for a warrant or 358 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:04,119 Speaker 3: made any effort to make an arrest. But if they 359 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,639 Speaker 3: did know and did nothing, why who are they trying 360 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 3: to protect? It sounds like a conspiracy theory born from 361 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:15,679 Speaker 3: the frustration of embittered parents and a community fed up 362 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 3: with law enforcement's lack of progress, and many people today 363 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:25,040 Speaker 3: insist that's exactly what it is, nothing more than baseless accusations. 364 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,040 Speaker 3: But sometimes conspiracies are more than theory and need to 365 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:34,119 Speaker 3: be put to the test. Meanwhile, back at the crime 366 00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:37,479 Speaker 3: scene and sarch Labuisiere, where Julian Melissa's bodies were found, 367 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:43,479 Speaker 3: police made another shocking discovery. Approximately two hours after finding 368 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 3: the girl's bodies, the excavation team found another body. The 369 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 3: corpse was that of a middle aged white male showing 370 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:55,880 Speaker 3: signs of torture, and autopsy confirmed that this man had 371 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:59,040 Speaker 3: been drugged and tortured, but the final cause of death 372 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:03,640 Speaker 3: was asphyxiated after having been buried alive. What they didn't 373 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:05,600 Speaker 3: know at the time was that there was a link 374 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:09,360 Speaker 3: between this corpse and the two teenage girls, Anne Martial 375 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,440 Speaker 3: and Effie Alambricks, who had gone missing over a year 376 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 3: earlier from the Belgian seaside. Next time, on La Montre. 377 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 3: As people begin to learn about Dtrue's previous crimes of 378 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 3: child abduction and rape in his early release from prison, 379 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 3: angers start shifting towards the judicial system. 380 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,359 Speaker 11: Public outrage at the catalog of atrocities attributed to this 381 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 11: man has escalated into nationwide anger at the system which 382 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 11: allowed the True and his accomplices to operate unchecked and 383 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:55,320 Speaker 11: at will for years. Belgian justice is on trial. 384 00:25:56,119 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 3: The country is on the brink of revolution. As citizens 385 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:00,720 Speaker 3: take to the street protest. 386 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:06,960 Speaker 6: It brought to the surface all the frustration of the population. 387 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 8: Now remember when I. 388 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,880 Speaker 4: Walked into the streets and we did the marcha blanche. 389 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:19,720 Speaker 4: So it was like a huge national gathering where everyone 390 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:24,439 Speaker 4: and all the souls of Belgians, being from Brussels, or 391 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 4: being from Walloonya or from Flanders, even though we speak 392 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,720 Speaker 4: different languages, were all in that together. 393 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 3: The Monster is a production of Tenderfoot TV and iHeartRadio, 394 00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:50,720 Speaker 3: hosted and executive produced by me Matt Graves, produced by 395 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:54,919 Speaker 3: Thomas Resumont of Bubble Sound. Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay 396 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:58,800 Speaker 3: are executive producers on the behalf of Tenderfoot TV, with producer, 397 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:03,160 Speaker 3: Makeup and Vanity. Matt Frederick and Alex Williams are executive 398 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 3: producers on the behalf of iHeartRadio with producer Trevor Young. 399 00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 3: Original music by Jay Ragsdale, Sound design by Cooper Skinner 400 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 3: and Thomas Resimont, mixed and mastered by Cooper Skinner. Cover 401 00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:21,200 Speaker 3: design by Trevor Eiler. La Monstra includes archival audio from Sonoma, 402 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:26,840 Speaker 3: RTBF Archives and CNN Archives. Special thanks to back Media 403 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 3: and marketing Station sixteen, Jean Savigna, and the teams at 404 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:35,160 Speaker 3: iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV. Find us on social media at 405 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:40,520 Speaker 3: Monster Underscore pod. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV, 406 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 3: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 407 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 3: to your favorite shows.