Mieke Oort, 21, a Massachusetts woman who was studying in the Netherlands was allegedly attacked by the suspect named as Thomas R, 27, whom she met on Tinder. The stalker grew jealous and tracked her bike when she reunited with her ex-boyfriend. Mieke was attacked inside her apartment in Leeuwarden.
Subsequent her breakup with her boyfriend of two years Michael van der Waal, Mieke had recently moved into the apartment around 90 minutes away from Amsterdam. Mieke is then said to have dated Thomas for a short time.
She met Thomas on Tinder and he reportedly became violent and started stalking Mieke after she got back together with Michael. Michael said that Thomas harassed Mieke via WhatsApp, drove up and down her street and even put a GPS tracking device on her bike.
Mieke’s family has flown to the Netherlands to deal with the aftermath of her death.
Mieke’s sister, Danique said that she was her baby sister and the family do not know how to cope with it. Danique further said that her sister was the sweetest and strongest women she knew. Mieke really put everyone before her and she had just so much more to give.
Police were notified of Mieke’s distress after receiving a call around 3.30am about a fire in her apartment on in Leeuwarden. The fire was quickly extinguished and they found her body. Two other men who lived in the building are also reported mild to serious injuries.
The fire supposedly started after Thomas tossed an combustible bomb against the house to force the other residents out and a fight broke out in the stairwell between two male residents. Thomas went upstairs and stabbed Mieke with a sharp object.
Michael said that Mieke wanted to break her relationships with Thomas and because he couldn’t digest that, he first stalked her for a while and out of jealousy, he has now done this terrible act. Michael further said that he got the news about her death after seeing news reports on Twitter.
Thomas, who lived in his parent’s home, was arrested near Leer after he was trying to escape by car to Germany. It is claimed that he was turned in by his parents, who alerted local police after he contacted them while fleeing. Thomas’s parents said that they were stunned by their son’s behavior and are deeply shaken after receiving the phone call.
He is being held in Germany until he can be transported back to the Netherlands, where he will be interrogated.
The Netherlands Police said that as soon as the suspect is in the Netherlands, he will be taken into custody and will be interrogated.
