Laetitia Delhez, aged 14, disappeared from Bertrix, Belgium, on August 9, 1996, while waiting at a bus stop after visiting a local festival. She vanished into a white van driven by [[Marc Dutroux]], with accomplice [[Michel Lelievre]] positioned nearby to assist in the abduction using chloroform to subdue her. The incident occurred amid Dutroux's ongoing operations, following the May 26 kidnapping of [[Sabine Dardenne]], with both girls held in a soundproofed basement dungeon at Dutroux's Marcinelle residence, constructed in 1993 with help from [[Claude Thirault]]. A witness observed the suspicious van circling the area twice before the seizure, noting the partial license plate PBX 688, which matched Dutroux's ASCO-registered vehicle linked to [[Michel Nihoul]]'s company. This clue prompted police action, leading to Dutroux's arrest on August 13, 1996, and the subsequent rescue of Laetitia and Sabine from the hidden cells behind disguised shelving.[^1] During captivity, Laetitia endured starvation and abuse, conditioned through hypnosis and drugs to view Dutroux as a protector, resisting rescuers upon discovery and embracing him instead. The dungeon, overlooked in prior 1995 searches during Dutroux's auto theft incarceration—when screams from [[Julie Lejeune]] and [[Melissa Russo]] were ignored—featured ventilation and restraints for prolonged confinement. [[Michelle Martin]], Dutroux's wife, fed the girls minimally while he was free, confirming abductions on Nihoul's orders for client delivery. Laetitia's brief two-day hold contrasted with Sabine's months-long ordeal, both tied to video production evidenced by seized tapes of rapes and cell construction returned to Martin.[^1] Rescued alongside Sabine on August 15, 1996, Laetitia provided details confirming the dungeon's layout and contents, including chloroform bottles and chains. Her testimony detailed the abduction sequence, with Lelievre blocking escape routes and Dutroux pulling her inside. The white van, used for photographing schoolgirls in client catalogues, facilitated transport, with over twenty calls between Dutroux and Nihoul around the event tracing payments to their European accounts funding seven properties.[^1] ### Abduction Details The Bertrix bus stop abduction involved Lelievre approaching Laetitia first under a pretext, followed by Dutroux's sudden grab from behind, injecting sedative via cloth. The witness, returning from shopping, alerted police immediately, providing the plate that cross-referenced to Dutroux despite prior Othello dismissal under Inspector [[Rene Michaux]]. Surveillance had missed earlier abductions like [[An Marchal]] and [[Eefje Lambrecks]] in August 1995, but Laetitia's case broke the pattern, leading to home searches uncovering the girls behind plywood partitions. Hypnosis equipment seized aided conditioning, mirroring methods used on An and Eefje, whose bodies were later exhumed from Sars-la-Buissière with mutilation signs.[^1] Laetitia described upstairs movements during captivity, hearing Sabine's cries, and Dutroux's explanations of ransom demands, though profits came from sales to Nihoul's network. Martin's role in feeding and evidence handling prolonged the operation, with returned rape tapes documenting assaults on minors. The dungeon's design, reinforced walls and hidden access, enabled undetected holding since Julie and Melissa's 1995 entry, whose neglect during Dutroux's jail term caused their deaths.[^1] ### Rescue and Testimony Upon arrest, Dutroux guided police to the basement, where Laetitia and Sabine hid initially, emerging only after persuasion, kissing Dutroux goodbye. Their conditioned state, induced via repeated hypnosis sessions and isolation, prevented escape attempts. Prosecutor [[Michel Bourlet]] and Judge [[Jean-Marc Connerotte]] oversaw the rescue, with Laetitia's account validating prior warnings from Thirault about the 1993 renovations. The breakthrough witness's report ended months of surveillance failures, exposing ASCO's role in victim procurement.[^1] Laetitia testified at the 2004 trial about the abduction's violence and captivity horrors, implicating Martin and Lelievre in logistics. Her details matched Lelievre's confession of Nihoul's orders and Dutroux's Slovakian sourcing boasts. Though spared the fate of exhumed victims like Julie and Melissa, her rescue highlighted network scope, with Nihoul acquitted of kidnapping despite phone evidence. Post-trauma, Laetitia pursued advocacy, contributing to reforms amid protests over Connerotte's 1996 removal.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.