On Tuesday morning, the body of a Dutch traveller was found at the bottom of the Ourthe River in Belgium. 33-year-old Zoe Snoeks was visiting a cliff near Nadrin with her husband and two dogs when the tragic incident took place. According to the police, she accidentally slipped off the edge of the cliff and fell 100 ft to her death.
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An explorer
Her husband, Joeri Janssen, said that his wife was an avid explorer and loved to take photos in the places they travelled. He said that on that unfortunate day, they had set out to that location early in the morning just so that they could take a few photos. He said:
We got up very early to take pictures of the Herou. There is almost always mist there. It's great for photos. We arrived before 9am.
The Herou, a 1,400-metre-high rock that stands above the river, is where Snoeks took the plunge. Her husband recounted the entire episode and said:
She told me to look out for the dogs.
I turned to the dogs and told them to wait. When I turned back to Zoe, she was no longer there. She had just vanished. It must have happened in less than five seconds.
I didn't see or hear anything. No rustling, no screams or shouts. I looked up and saw only dust.
Her last photo
After realising what had happened, he immediately contacted emergency services who then told him the inevitable—she was most likely dead. He continued:
The rescue team could not find Zoe immediately, they said in French.
Then they told me that unfortunately Zoe was dead, also in French, but I immediately understood what they meant.
Janssen then mentioned that when he looked through her phone, he saw that her very last photo wasa selfie on the cliff. He finally said:
Taking photos was her passion. I immediately unlocked her phone and saw that she had taken a photo on the cliff edge. Her very last selfie.
Zoe is looking straight ahead. You can also see the mist and the river where they finally found her body.