In October 2019, 67-year-old Gerrit-Jan van Dorsten and his six adult children were discovered in Ruinerwold, a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe, where they had lived after March 2009[1] for nine years after in seclusion in a farm house where only the 58-year-old man who rented the house had been seen around.
The family was found after the oldest child Israel, who has also called himself Jan, 25, left the house and spoke to local people in Ruinerwold.
[17] According to a court judgment in 2021, the father had suffered a cerebrovascular accident in 2016, rendering him incapable of making coherent communication.
[18] On 17 October, the father appeared at court having been arrested and charged with unlawful deprivation of liberty, harming other people's health, and money laundering.
[18][19] The 58-year-old man who rents the house, and was often around, but slept elsewhere, has also been arrested, initially for obstructing the police investigation, and later also suspected of complicity.