Ingrid Visser (volleyball)


Ingrid Louise Visser was a Dutch female volleyball player, a member of the Netherlands women's national volleyball team in 1994–2011, a participant of the 1996 Olympic Games, 1995 European Champion.

Career

National team

Visser debuted in the Dutch volleyball team in 1994 in a friendly match against Ukraine. In 1995 she won the title of European Champion after winning the final match against Croatia 3–0 in the Netherlands. She was a member of the Dutch women's team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, United States. Her team took fifth place in the Olympic tournament. In 2007, Visser received the golden federation's pin because of her record status as an international and her merits for volleyball in the Netherlands. On 4 October 2009, the Netherlands, including Visser, won the silver medal of the 2009 European Championship in Poland. They lost the final match against Italy 3–0. In total she played five World Championships, nine European Championships and the Olympics. From 1994 to 2011 Visser played 514 matches with the national team, which is a record number for a Dutch player in any team sports. Officially she ended her volleyball career on 4 February 2012.

Death

On 13 May 2013, Visser and her boyfriend Lodewijk Severein disappeared shortly after checking into a hotel in the city of Murcia, Spain. They were supposed to meet a doctor the next day but failed to turn up, and the authorities were alerted. Their rental car was found on a city street more than a week later. Their bodies were found on 27 May 2013 in a shallow grave in a lemon grove, two weeks after they disappeared in the region. The pair had been abducted, tortured and killed. Spanish police arrested Juan Cuenca Lorente, ex-director of volleyball club CAV Murcia 2005, and Romanian nationals Valentin Ion and Constatin Stan. The police stated that there had been "certain business disagreements" between the murdered couple and the three men under arrest. Severein and Cuenca had planned to exploit a marble quarry, but these plans never materialized and Severein had requested several hundred thousand Euros of his investment to be returned. During the trial, Valentin Ion admitted to being present during the murder and that it took place on 14 May. After two years of investigation, the Spanish prosecution sought a 50-year prison sentence. In November 2016 the suspects were sentenced to a 34-year prison term, but on appeal in March 2017 it was raised to 40 years.

Sporting achievements

Clubs

CEV Champions' League">CEV Women's Champions League">CEV Champions' League