Nearly 10 years after 19-year-old Dutchman Sidney Lute disappeared in Alsace, his family is seeking new leads in Luxembourg, where flyers appealing for information have appeared along the Mullerthal Trail.
The unusual notices have been spotted on Route 1 of the trail near Echternach, including at Däiwelskopp, in the area between Born, Moersdorf, and Givenich. One of the German-language flyers was photographed by a hiker and sent to RTL.
Bearing the words "Missing: Sidney Lute", the flyers are part of a renewed effort by the young man's family to find out what happened to him after he vanished in December 2016. A reward of up to €10,000 is being offered for information that could help solve the case.
Lute was 19 when he disappeared in Alsace in December 2016. He is believed to have travelled from Strasbourg towards Colmar, where his mobile phone was tracked for the final time. Police later established that he had also searched online for information about Altenberg, a former sanatorium near Colmar.
The abandoned sanatorium, which closed in 2011, is regarded as a so-called "lost place", or abandoned site. Lute's trail went cold somewhere in the surrounding area, and there have been no confirmed signs of him since.
His family has never stopped looking.
Earlier this year, relatives travelled to Luxembourg on a hiking trip and distributed flyers appealing for information. They hope that the country's popularity with Dutch tourists, together with its relative proximity to both the Netherlands and Alsace, could help generate new leads.
An even larger reward is being advertised by the Peter R. de Vries Foundation, which is offering up to €100,000 for information that could help solve the case.
Lute's mother, Natasja, has continued campaigning for answers throughout the years. She regularly travels to France and repeatedly launches new appeals in the hope that someone may remember something that could help explain her son's disappearance.
Lute has been described as reserved and someone who spent a great deal of time online, but who was also fond of travel, nature, and personal freedom. According to his mother, the idea of a conventional 40-hour working week did not appeal to him, a more nomadic life suiting him better.
At the time of his disappearance, Lute was living with his father in Assendelft in the Netherlands. He left in October 2016 and remained in sporadic contact with his family until December. Then all contact stopped.
Despite the recent appearance of the flyers in Luxembourg, the Grand Ducal Police is not actively involved in the investigation, it confirmed to RTL.
