The Mystery Behind Danie Krugel

The recent disappearance of Kerry Winter in Dubai has once again thrown the spotlight on the controversial inventor-investigator, Danie Krugel. The young woman’s family had reportedly called upon his services after she was last seen three weeks ago being brutally assaulted and shoved into the boot of a car by her boyfriend. Dubai authorities have, however, rejected his offer of assistance.

Danie “The Locator” Krugel, an ex-detective of the missing children’s unit in the South African Police  Service, claims he is able to find missing persons using a device that he calls the Matter Oriented System (MOS). Using quantum physics, GPS Technology and DNA samples, his invention allegedly allows him to pinpoint on a map the exact location of missing persons. How the device actually works remains a mystery, as Krugel has repeatedly refused to submit his invention to independent scientific scrutiny, citing concerns over patenting and commercial exploitation. Krugel insists that his invention is still in an experimental phase, and not yet ready for release.

With exposure not only in the tabloids, but also in more mainstream media, Krugel has been labelled everything from crackpot to genius. He first gained recognition after an hour long feature in Carte Blanche entititled, “Fingerprints of Fate”. With Ruda Landman investigating, Krugel pinpointed what he claimed to be the resting place of The Missing Six- a group of schoolgirls that disappeared during the 1980s at the hands of the now notorious paedophile, Gert van Rooyen, and his female accomplice Joey Haarhoff. The pair committed suicide before the police could arrest them, forever taking the secrets of the girls’ whereabouts with them. In 2007, Carte Blanche aired the insert, showing how Krugel, with the help of psychic Marietta Theunissen, pointed out the site where he believed their bodies to be.

5 of The Missing Six

Krugel did indeed find six remains, which were then verified as being human. Four of them, however, were male. Because of the extreme degradation of the bones, the remaining two could unfortunately not be linked to the DNA of any of the girls’ mothers. Although the possibility of a match could not be excluded, the results were inconclusive, earning Landman severe criticism over what was judged as poor investigative journalism.

Madeleine McCann

Subsequently, Krugel was called in to assist in the case of Madeleine McCann, better known as “Maddie”, who had disappeared from the family’s holiday appartment in Portugal whilst her parents dined nearby. After receiving information about his work from the public, the McCanns appealed to Krugel for assistance. Using a hair found on her clothes, he was able to give coordinates of where he believed her body to be buried at the Praia da Luz beach. Careful not to hamper with police investigations, Krugel handed over the information to relevant authorities. According to him, as the focus of the investigations turned to the parents of the girl, nobody followed up on his leads, not even bothering to take sniffer dogs to the site. To date, his claims have not been verified. Whether or not his invention actually works is debatable, but in missing person cases, where time is of the essence, the answer to the question “Where’s Maddie” may never be found.

Earlier this year, the search for a missing man Ray Flanagan, who disappeared whilst hiking in the Outeniqua Mountains, was also called off after efforts to find him proved fruitless. Krugel had mapped out the area where he believed Flanagan would be found. The results were unsuccessful.

Lack of empirical evidence has led the scientific community to dub him a fraud, with often vitriolic attacks on his character to be found in the media and on the blogosphere. One blogger, Dr. George Claasens, Director of Sceptic South Africa, has even challenged Krugel to accept the James Randi Education Foundation Challenge. The Prize is a $1 000 000, which will go to “anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event”. Still, Krugel remains unmoved.

Yet while critics label him  a quack, according to media reports, private investigators and police officers continue to make use of his services, which they claim have been very helpful. Krugel himself claims a 80% success rate. On his website, ostensibly set up to not only give him exposure, but also, judging by its title “Danie Krugel Facts“, to debunk the myths surrounding his work. A portfolio of news coverage samples, as well as glowing testimonials from satisfied “customers” bear witness to his work over the last few years. Included are even letters of appreciation sent to him by members of SAPS, as well as a recent document allegedly submitted by a panel of experts and specialists, backing the efficacy of his invention. A small preface to his site interestingly also states that his services are free, and he claims to pay his own accommodation and travel expenses. According to reports, he says his motivation lies in the satisfaction he gains from providing answers to distraught family members and loved ones. He maintains he’s no psychic, and insists that his success can only be attributed to his invention.

So where lies the answer to the mystery that is Danie Krugel? Dedicated hero or unscrupulous fraudster, here is a man spending considerable energy and ressources for what could be described as little personal return. Is it that he’s simply a man hungry for media attention, or is there something more to his claims. The truth may never be discovered, yet somehow it seems that many would like to believe in the power of his miracle invention, however fanciful these feelings may be.