July 4, 1980

Nicole van den Hurk was born in Erkelenz, Germany.

October 6, 1995

5:10a: Nicole left her grandmother’s home in Eindhoven, North Brabant, Netherlands but never made it to work.

4:10p: Nicole was reported missing

6:00p: Nicole’s gray bicycle was found in the Dommel river, halfway between her grandmother’s house and her workplace.

October 19, 1995

Nicole van den Hurk’s small backpack was found near the canal.

November 22, 1995

Fifteen-year-old Nicole van den Hurk’s body was found in the woods about 20-30 minutes east of Eindhoven

May 22, 1996

Police arrest and detain Nicole’s stepbrother Andy. He was released after 5 days without charge.

June 7, 1996

Police arrest and detain Nicole’s father Ad van den Hurk. He was released after 5 days without charge.

2004

A cold case review was conducted but closed without any arrests.

March 8, 2011

Nicole’s stepbrother Andy “confessed” to the crime on Facebook. He was arrested in the UK and extradited to the Netherlands.

April 4, 2011

Andy was released without charge.

September 9, 2011

Nicole’s body was exhumed as part of a reinvestigation into existing and new forensic evidence.

January 14, 2014

Jos de G. was arrested and charged with rape and murder. His DNA was found on swabs from Nicole’s autopsy and he had previously been convicted of a similar rape.

In line with Dutch privacy policies, no more than this image of Jos de G has been released.

November 2, 2015

Jos De G.’s trial began. By this point, he was facing charges for rape and manslaughter.

November 10, 2015

The trial gets paused while the prosecution followed up on new witness testimony.

November 21, 2016

Jos de G. was convicted of rape but acquitted on the charge of manslaughter. He was ordered to serve 5 years in prison.

November 29, 2016

Both the prosecution and the defense appeal the verdict.

Headline from 2018 appeal. Translation: Jos de G. angry; suspect denies Nicole's murder

October 9, 2018

The prosecution wins the appeal and Jos de G. is found guilt of both rape and manslaughter. His sentence is changed from 5 years in prison to 12 years.

Sources: 2024 Crimelines Podcast Source List

Nicole van den Hurk Crimeline