Iona Napier
A DUTCH tourist has been reported missing, last seen at Hotel Aura Algeciras with a friend on April 1.
Dutch national Joyce Van Iperen, 39, and her friend Stephan Mulder had been on holiday in Spain since March 27 and were due to fly back to Holland on April 1.
They had had lunch with her ex-boyfriend, so far only identified as Patrick, in Algeciras before departing in a green Volvo V70 and she has been out of contact ever since.
Her telephone was last seen online on April 1 at 1.54pm – around the time the lunch is thought to have ended.
Her half–sister, Ruth Wever, told The Olive Press: “I have just been told that Joyce and Stephan were seen at around 2.30pm in the Hotel Aura in Algeciras.
“She went to Spain with this guy who no one knows much about, and we have no idea why.
“She told everybody she was just taking a few days off to go to Spain.”
Although both initially believed to be missing, Mulder is believed to have returned to Holland.
But Van Iperen, who lives with her two cats in Amsterdam, did not return to reclaim her flat keys from friends.
On Mulder’s Facebook page, a woman who is believed to be his wife has confirmed that he is fine, that there is ‘nothing going on’ and that people are ‘not to worry’.
While in Spain, Van Iperen, an unmarried ex-taxi driver with no children, is thought to have met up with her ex-boyfriend, Patrick, whom family members are desperate to trace.
Patrick, her ex-boyfriend who Van Iperen was with for ‘at least ten years’ according to her half-sister, is from Surinam, the Dutch ex-colony in South America.
Wever is leading the search with her step-father in the Algarve in Portugal and they will go to the Dutch Consulate today to push forward with investigations.
Wever told the Olive Press: “I have been given a lot of mixed up information.
“We desperately need to know where she is, it’s so unlike her to disappear as she had to get back to Amsterdam to her cats who are like children to her.”
“The police in Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal have already been informed and we are desperately waiting for news from them.”
“On behalf of my family, thanks to everyone for all the support and help so far.”
For anyone with information, please contact the newsdesk on 951 273 575 or Ruth Weber, Joyce’s sister, on +351 969 620 609
