“Like a bomb exploded.” That’s what those involved say about the mistakes inTV programs without a trace which came to light on Tuesday in an episode of_Scammers Tackled_. They state that in addition to the two ‘mismatches’covered in the program, at least five other cases have gone wrong with thereuniting of adopted children with their original families.
In the program, television maker Kees van der Spek showed that via without atrace in recent years several adoptees in Colombia have been linked to wrongbiological relatives. The ‘mismatches’ came about through a Colombian andDutch employee of the program.
After the broadcast, broadcaster KRO-NCRV acknowledged that mistakes wereindeed made with two participants. The broadcaster does not want to respond toquestions from the NOS and says it wants to do its own research first. Aspokesperson only refers to this press statement.
But according to Fiona Teggatz it is about more than two mismatches. She andher friend Barbara Quee run an agency helping Colombian adoptees. Since thebroadcast, the two have been approached by many more Colombians in theNetherlands, says Teggatz. Some also participated without a trace and fearthat their business has also been made mistakes.
Kees van der Spek and Barbara Quee told about the mismatches in the talk showJinek:
Spoorloos linked 2 participants to the wrong family
In the without a trace business was centered on a Colombian fixer, EdwinVela. Vela was also involved in the case of Juliette and her sisters, whoselast name is known to the editors. They teamed up with . in 2019 without atrace. “They told us that our mother was found by Edwin Vela.” The news cameas a shock to the sisters: “We didn’t know any better than that our biologicalmother was dead, because that was written on our birth certificate”.
But according to Vela, the woman was still alive. “But according to him, ourmother did not want contact. She was afraid, because she had a lot on herplate, he said.” By the delivery of Scammers Tackled Juliette and her livingsister have serious doubts about that story.
The broadcast made her angry, sad and surprised. “Angry because Edwin couldlook families in the face and do this. I find that really inhumane anddegrading.”
Who is Edwin Vela?
Spoorloos worked closely with Vela until 2010, confirms the KRO-NCRV. Since2019, he has been doing odd jobs for the program again. Vela didn’t workalone. He made local contacts, but a second intermediary was also involved: aDutch correspondent. She hired Vela when she couldn’t visit certain placesherself. So far she has not responded to questions from the NOS. The twotogether took sixteen cases for without a trace in itself. According to KRO-NCRV, Colombia is the only country where this way of working was done.
Yaneth Palacio Menger also had contact with without a trace. She approachedthe editors in the 90s and initially heard nothing for years. Years later,Palacio Menger received a call: the editors told her that her biologicalmother had been found. She just couldn’t come to the Netherlands. “Your worldwill be turned upside down.”
According to the editors, there was no moving image of Palacio Menger’smother, but a reconstruction had been made based on Vela’s findings. “Mymother got pregnant on the street as a 15-year-old and could not take care ofme. In the metropolis of Medellín, Vela had found family on the street, theysaid.”
Palacio Menger was shown photos. “You immediately look for similarities. Itwas very emotional.” ‘s team without a trace was going to Medellín to filmPalacio Menger’s mother. “But she was gone a few days before their departure.According to Vela, she did not have a permanent address, but lived withrelatives in FARC territory. My mother was said to have been taken by theFARC. According to him it was too dangerous to go there .”