Survival expert Jos Brech arrested in Spain over 1998 murder of Dutch boy

[Ulquiorra]

THE scout leader wanted for the 1998 murder of an 11-year-old Dutch boy was tracked down and arrested in Spain yesterday, cops revealed.

They released images of survival expert Jos Brech, accused of killing little Nicky Verstappen at a summer camp 20 years ago, lying face down on a dusty road as plain-clothed officers handcuffed him.

Police confirmed Brech, whose DNA matched samples taken from Nicky's clothes, was being held in a Spanish police cell pending his transfer to the Netherlands.

Brech, now 55, is being held over the sexually motivated killing of Nicky who mysteriously went missing from the Brunssumerheide nature reserve.

He was stopped by military police a day after Nicky vanished near the German border but they let him go because he was not considered a suspect.

The boy's body was found the same day, sparking a huge manhunt which eventually spanned France and Spain.

Brech, who was accused of sexually assaulting and then killing the lad, was initially believed to be hiding somewhere in the French mountains.

A European Arrest Warrant was issued for the bearded former youth worker and his picture was released by police last week.

Previous suspect Martin Ney, a German child murderer, was linked to Madeleine McCann's case when police quizzed him in 2011.

Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry believed Ney was seen acting suspiciously near the spot she vanished from in 2007.

Scotland Yard had liaised with German authorities as to whether Ney murderered both Maddie and Nicky, but dropped interest on the belief he only had sexual interest in boys.

Cops named Brech as the prime suspect following a DNA breakthrough.

Brech told his family in April that he was going for a walk in the Vosges mountains in France, where he owns a cabin, before going off the radar.

Brech was 35 at the time of Nicky's death and was interviewed as a witness when police were undertaking what became one of the most extensive murder investigations in the Netherlands.

They first suspected Brech earlier this year upon noticing his absence from a pool of 16,000 men from the area who had volunteered to hand over DNA samples to clear their names.

"We now have a one-on-one DNA match with the traces found on Verstappen's body," Detective Ferdinand Schellinkhout told a press conference in Maastricht yesterday.

Limburg police chief Ingrid Schaefer-Poels told journalists her force is "convinced that the suspect has gone into hiding". She asked the public to contact police with any information of his whereabouts.