Almost a year ago, Natacha (28), disappeared in the wilds of Peru. Originally from Brussels, a whole city and a whole country was shocked to learn, a few weeks ago, that the remains of his body had finally been found… after eight months of hope and ordeal for his relatives.
“During all this time, we never had any concrete indication that our daughter was dead, we continued to hope that we would find her alive,” her parents recently explained.
Today they confide in this tragedy which turned their world upside down.
In Eric and Sabine’s house in Linkebeek, a town in Flemish Brabant, Natacha is everywhere, as the Nieuwsblad reports. Photos, objects, souvenirs… The couple returned from Peru only three weeks ago. They held a moment of remembrance for their deceased daughter, which was watched by 15,000 people from 15 different countries via a live stream. For parents, the past year has been trying. They must now face the first Christmas without their daughter.
While the news of their daughter’s death was terrible, it was also “a great relief”. “We lived in stress for months and barely slept. It eats at you. It would have been a miracle if we had found her anyway,” her mother said. For his father: “It was not possible, it was not authorized. I was still convinced that I could hold my baby girl alive in my arms. When I recognized her piercing, I had to face the truth. »
This painful ordeal is still raw: “Natacha was looking for herself, the tour of Latin America would bring her peace. Initially, we weren’t worried. She had warned us that she was going to do a trek in the Colca Valley to Cabanaconde, an area where cell phone reception is almost nil. That was also his goal, to disconnect completely for a while. We last heard from him on January 20, his birthday. »
Then more news. The family decides to go to Peru, where they will stay for almost the entire duration of the investigation: “When we returned to Belgium, we wondered what we were doing there. It was impossible to resume a “normal life”. When we flew back to Peru for the third time in September, we were determined: we wouldn’t be back without Natacha. »
Natacha rests today in the hearts and in the memory of her loved ones and her family. “We console ourselves by saying that she was incredibly happy when she died. All the photos from her trip show her smiling. She was having fun,” she told the Nieuwsblad.
In tribute to Natacha, “a tree will be planted on January 20, her birthday, in the small park next to the hockey club where she liked to come. His urn will also be buried there, as well as the coffin containing Natacha’s personal items and memorabilia. »
Natacha also leaves a mark in Peru where commemorations will also take place. His family intends to undertake the Colca trek, “in 2024, we want to travel there with the whole family to see our Peruvian friends that we made there. They are in our hearts. We will also do the trek that Natacha started but was never able to complete. A piece of his soul now rests there. It’s the ultimate tribute to her.”