Cold case team investigates new leads in the death of Antillean Soares

Rotterdam – The cold case team of the Rotterdam police unit has taken an important step in the investigation into the death of 13-year-old Sedar Soares. It was long thought that the boy had been shot for throwing snowballs at a motorist. Now the cold case team assumes that Sedar has become the accidental and completely innocent victim of a rip deal. Police can’t help but come to the sad conclusion that Sedar was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sedar Soares
Sedar and his friends were playing on the parking deck of the Slinge metro station on February 1, 2003. It had snowed that day and the boys had a lot of fun. At some point, shots were probably fired from the street below the parking deck. The boys duck, but it’s too late for Sedar by then. One of the fired bullets hits him, and he dies a day later on February 2 in hospital from his injuries.

Cold case team investigates new leads in the death of Sedar Soares

There was great sadness and indignation at the time. This is still the case for the relatives and friends of Sedar. They never got the answer to the questions what happened and why it happened. A boy was allegedly shot for throwing snowballs at a motorist.

Rip deal
The cold case team now assumes a different scenario. While Sedar and his friends were playing at the subway station, a rip deal presumably took place there, of which Sedar fell victim. The team can’t help but come to the sad conclusion that he’s been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It took long enough
The cold case team of the Rotterdam police has never let go of the case. In 2020, the research was again brought to the attention of the public, partly on the basis of the cold case calendar and renewed attention in the media. As a result, several witnesses subsequently went to the police with information about the facts. They think it has lasted long enough, the family has a right to the truth. These witnesses have the information they shared with the detectives. These new, additional testimonials have been added to the existing file by the investigation team. The combination of the previous investigation findings and the new statements of witnesses means that the cold case team now assumes a new scenario in the investigation into the death of Sedar Soares.

Cold case team investigates new leads in the death of Sedar Soares

The playing field for witnesses has grown
The fact that the investigation is fully focused on this new scenario also means that the cold case team wants to get in touch with witnesses again. Apart from the (accidental) eyewitnesses of the shooting, there are also expected to be witnesses who had and have information about the rip deal. There should be more people who know what happened before, during and after that. We realize that there are reasons why people may not have told their (full) story at the time. The hope is that the circumstances for these people have also changed in the meantime, so that they now want to tell their story to us. The chief public prosecutor of the Rotterdam Public Prosecution Service has recently increased the reward for the tip that leads to the solution of this case to €40,000.

Special witness number
At the same time, the team also realizes that there may be witnesses who don’t feel free to tell their story openly. Therefore, a special phone number has been opened for them in this study. Do you want to declare safe without your name being known to the perpetrator? Call or app the special witnesses team +31620740912.

As the case is many years old, information may need to be sought further away than where it happened. There are strong indications that information about the case is known within the Antillean community. Those people are also expressly asked to respond and report. If you have any doubts about this, at least discuss this with the police. There are also opportunities in the Antilles for this.

Cold case team investigates new leads in the death of Sedar Soares

You can contact the Rotterdam cold case team directly by calling the investigation hotline, 0800-6070. Or mail to [email protected]

Information sharing important

In the coming period, the investigation team will do everything it can to find answers in this case. Until now, all applicable means of communication have been used to reach those important witnesses. A remarkable step will be taken in this regard next weekend. Sedar’s violent death calls for a shift in the boundaries of investigation. Never before has an attempt been made in this way to convince people of the fact that their information can contribute to the solution of this murder. The team expects to convince those important witnesses after all.

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In the 19 years that the investigation has been running, the investigative tools have also developed. For example, we now apply more modern techniques than then. We tell more about this in the documentary “Speak! Now!” which will appear on NPO1 (WNL) on Sunday evening May 22, 2022 at 9.55 pm. In this documentary you get an exclusive look behind the scenes of the cold case team of the Rotterdam police unit. It thus becomes clear how the cold case team must come to the sad conclusion that Sedar was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Cold case team investigates new leads in the death of Sedar Soares

Reaction family Sedar

Sedar’s family said through a spokesperson: “We still miss Sedar every day. Our son, brother, nephew was in the wrong place with his friends at the wrong time. We are very pleased that the police are once again giving his death full attention. And we are grateful to everyone who helped make this special project happen. Sedar was a sweet boy who really wanted to be a football player and wouldn’t hurt a fly. We hope that people who know more will still want to report after all these years. It would give a lot of peace to anyone who loves Sedar. At the same time, we hope that the media and others will respect our privacy in the near future. The loss of Sedar still hurts daily. Participating in the documentary has demanded a lot from us.

Cold case team investigates new leads in the death of Sedar Soares

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