7 weeks until body found
Nicole's body was found roughly 7 weeks after she vanished, deliberately concealed beneath a pile of branches and pruning waste in woodland between Meerlo and Lierop.
Snapshot · Crime, Conspiracy, Cults and Murder
Ep. 116 | You Won't Believe How This Cold Case Was Solved | Nicole van den Hurk
Explore episode
Jun 24, 2026
Where this was said
Nicole's Body Found: November 22, 1995
At 19:10 · chapter starts 18:30
On November 22, 1995, a passerby stumbled upon something hidden beneath a pile of branches and pruning waste in a stretch of woodland between Meerlo and Lierop — roughly 10 kilometres east of Nicole's grandmother's house. The concealment was deliberate and deliberate — someone had taken time and care to cover her, far from every searched zone. After seven weeks of rain, temperature swings, insects, and bacteria, forensic investigators faced a race against decomposition. They collected what they could: clothing traces, hair evidence, and three DNA samples — two from her genital area, one from her underwear — all flagged as fragile and potentially contaminated, but preserved nonetheless. The autopsy was unambiguous: Nicole had died from internal bleeding caused by a stab wound. Her jaw was fractured, her head and fingers injured — the finger wounds suggesting she had fought back. Investigators also documented evidence of sexual assault, but made a deliberate decision to keep that finding from the public. Nicole was buried on November 28, 1995.
Nicole's Body Found — and What the Autopsy Revealed
Nicole's body was discovered November 22 beneath deliberate concealment — branches and pruning waste — 10 km from where she lived. The autopsy confirmed she was stabbed to death, her jaw fractured, fingers injured in a fight; investigators also documented sexual assault but kept that finding from the public for years.
Similar snapshots
Sued for $250B before Uber
Before Uber, Kalanick built a peer-to-peer file-sharing system and was sued for a quarter of a trillion dollars by 33 major media companies.
Arms dealer Edwin Wilson: 52-year sentence
CIA operative Edwin Wilson, part of the illegal arms network used by Oliver North, was sentenced to 52 years for supplying Libya with 10,000 machine guns and 20 tons of C4.
186-year prison sentence sought
US prosecutors sought a 186-year prison sentence for Kim Dotcom, largely because of his financial support for WikiLeaks.
Mario Tabraue sentenced to 100+ years
Mario Tabraue, a central figure in Monsters of God linked to drug trafficking and murder, was sentenced to over 100 years in prison but served only 12 years.
Disappeared October 3, 2024
Zelig Williams disappeared on October 3rd, 2024 after leaving his mother's home in Columbia, South Carolina and has not been seen since.
Season 5 — 6 new unsolved mysteries
Dateline: Missing in America Season 5 features six new unsolved missing-persons mysteries, hoping a listener may hold a crucial clue.
Strickland got 2 felony GBI charges
At a high school party, Strickland broke one victim's nose, jaw, and knocked out teeth requiring multiple reconstructive surgeries, resulting in two felony GBI charges.
55 years unsolved
Joyce LePage's murder has remained unsolved for 55 years despite active investigation from the start.
Mark's mental institution history
Joyce's own letter revealed that Mark Wadley had once stayed at a mental institution for trying to strangle people — a detail investigators apparently never followed up on.
