Man arrested after family found in secret bunker is not their dad

A man arrested after siblings were found locked in the basement of an isolated farm in the Netherlands is not the children’s father.

Five siblings aged between 18 and 25 were found along with their sick father in a secret room on the farm near Ruinerwold, a village in the northern province of Drenthe.

All six people rescued are now receiving medical treatment, Dutch police have said.

A man, 58, who was arrested following the discovery of the family on Tuesday, is not the father of the children, local Mayor Roger de Groot said.

His role is still unclear.

Police said the people may have been hidden away on the property for nine years.


In a statement, they said: ‘We found six people living in a small space in the house which could be locked, not a cellar.

‘It is unclear if they resided there voluntarily.

‘They say they are a family, a father and five children.’

The Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad daily identified the man who has been arrested as Joseph B, an Austrian carpenter.

Earlier reports suggested a father and his six children were discovered on the remote farm, ‘waiting for the end of time’.

It has since been cleared up that five adult children and a father were found.

Police confirmed they had arrested a man who was renting the farm but would not comment on his identity.

Officials have not confirmed reports that the family may have held ‘end of days’ apocalyptic beliefs.


The siblings were only discovered when the eldest son, 25, stumbled into a nearby cafe and told the owner he had not been outside for almost a decade.

Some of the children have never had any contact with neighbours and were convinced they were the only humans on earth, according to local media.

The children’s mother had apparently died before they moved to the Dutch farm, Mayor de Groot said.

Police said that none of the family members were registered as residents.

An employee said the eldest sibling came into the cafe with long hair and looking bewildered.

Cafe owner Chris Westerbeek told Dutch broadcaster RTV Drenthe: ‘You could see he had no idea where he was or what he was doing.

‘He said he had run away and that he urgently needed help.’

The siblings had apparently lived in makeshift rooms inside the farm and survived partly on vegetables and animals from a secluded garden on the property.

Mayor de Groot told reporters yesterday: ‘I understand there are a lot of questions. We have many too.

‘The police are investigating all possible scenarios.’

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