Spanish police find 'bodies of Dutch duo'

Spanish police found two bodies on Monday which according to media reports are of former Dutch international volleyball player Ingrid Visser and her partner, who have been missing since the middle of May. Visser, 35, and her partner Lodewijk Severein, 57, disappeared on May 13 shortly after checking into a hotel in Murcia. Their rental car was found nine days later on a street in the southeastern Spanish city. Their disappearance sparked intense media interest in the Netherlands and volunteers plastered the streets of Murcia with posters with pictures of Visser and her partner asking for information about their whereabouts. "Two bodies have been found and we are trying to identify them," a police spokesman said. "We can't confirm that they are the missing Dutch couple," he added. Spanish media, citing sources close to the investigation, reported that the bodies were of Visser and her partner. The bodies were found in a shallow grave near Murcia and two people have been arrested in the nearby region of Valencia, the reports added. "They have only told us that two bodies have been found. They are identifying the bodies, to carry out tests, and will make an official announcement later on," said a lawyer and spokeswoman for Visser's family, Miriam van de Velde. Visser was part of the Netherlands's gold medal-winning team at the European Championship in 1995 and played for a volleyball team in Murcia between 2009 and 2011. Source: AFP