Desperately seeking information on the whereabouts of his seven-year-old daughter, Hage Von Velsen came to Malta last week in the hope of learning about the time she spent here before she was allegedly abducted.
Mr Von Helsen claims his daughter Klara was abducted in Germany by her mother, Claudia Krolik, who is believed to have then brought the girl with her to Malta.
While here, Ms Krolik was also suspected of having helped another German woman, Petra Nemet, try to abduct her three-year-old son.
The pair had allegedly attempted to snatch this little boy two years ago in Żabbar, where he lives with his father, Nico Leonhardt, who has sole custody.
The incident, which was captured on CCTV, also showed Ms Nemet allegedly assaulting Mr Leonhardt’s Maltese partner with a stun gun. The women had emerged from behind the partner’s car and could then be seen chasing after her and the three-year-old.
At the time of the incident, the Maltese police had made a request for a European arrest warrant to be issued against Ms Nemet who had left Malta hours after she had allegedly tried to snatch the boy.
Drawing from their similar experiences and a possible link between the two women, Mr Von Velsen and Mr Leonhardt – who had never met before – decided to join forces in an attempt to try and learn more about Ms Krolik’s time in Malta.
“All I know is that she was here with my daughter for over a year. If I can at least learn where she was living, whom she met while here, that would already be great,” Mr Von Velsen said.
The men believe both their former partners have since left the island, with Ms Krolik taking her daughter with her.
“We know they were working together and that Claudia had helped Petra when they tried to abduct my son. Now we are trying to learn more about how they came to work together and why,” Mr Leonhardt said. The pair said they believe the two women were still together today, despite not having any information on their whereabouts.
Mr Von Helsen said that, by looking into Ms Krolik’s time here, he could possibly come across traces that could lead him to his daughter.
“They must have been out and about while here and so I wanted to come over to possibly try and find out more. Every little detail helps,” Mr Von Helsen said, appealing to anyone with any sort of information on the case to come forward.