Murder of Gerrit Jan Heijn

Gerrit Jan Heijn was born on 14 February 1931 in Zaandam, Netherlands. He was a top manager of Ahold, the supermarket conglomerate founded by his family; his grandfather Albert Heijn had founded the original family business, and his older brother, also named Albert Heijn, founded Ahold. Heijn's son, Ronald Jan Heijn, went on to play for the Dutch national field hockey team.

On 9 September 1987, Heijn was kidnapped near his villa in Bloemendaal, Netherlands, by Ferdi Elsas. According to the available record, Elsas murdered Heijn within a few hours of the kidnapping but did not disclose this. Instead, he continued to pretend that Heijn was still alive for an extended period in order to extract ransom payments from the family. As part of this deception, Elsas sent the Heijn family items belonging to Gerrit Jan, including his glasses and a severed little finger.

Elsas was eventually identified and caught after he began spending banknotes from the ransom payment, the serial numbers of which had been recorded in advance. He was convicted and served a prison sentence, being released in 2001. Following his release, Elsas provided directions leading investigators to Heijn's body, which had been buried in woods near Renkum.

Gerrit Jan Heijn was cremated on 9 April 1988 in Driehuis, Netherlands. He died on 9 September 1987 in Doorwerth.

Ferdi Elsas, the man responsible for Heijn's kidnapping and murder, was later killed in an accident: he was struck by an excavator on 3 August 2009 while riding his bicycle near the town of Vorden, in the Dutch province of Gelderland, and died at a hospital in Zutphen the same day.

The case attracted broader cultural attention; the 2004 film "The Clearing" is loosely based on Heijn's kidnapping and murder.