Belgian police hunting fugitive far-right soldier find body
20 June 2021, 14:54
Jurgen Conings disappeared on May 17 and was an anti-terrorism watch list.
Belgian police say the body of a fugitive far-right soldier who was the target of a huge manhunt appears to have been found.
Hundreds of security forces scoured parts of northeast Belgium after the May 17 disappearance of Jurgen Conings, who was on an anti-terrorism watch list, had threatened a top virologist involved in the country’s Covid-19 programme and had hoarded heavy weaponry.
A body was found on Sunday by people walking in the woods near the town of Dilsen-Stockem.
Initial evidence indicates it is Conings and that he killed himself, but further examination is under way, Belgian federal police said in a statement.
Conings, 46, had hidden anti-tank missile launchers and other heavy arms in an army barracks before disappearing.
He had threatened several people in recent months, including the virologist, and landed on the federal anti-terrorism watch list in February.
Conings had a three-decade career behind him as an expert marksman before he started making threats and racist remarks on Facebook.
He was handed disciplinary sanctions but still allowed to work with weapons.
