Daycare owner stabbed to death in Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Aug. 12, 2009 — A 33-year-old woman died at a hospital Monday night after she was was stabbed on a parking lot outside the daycare center she owned and operated at Dr. H. Colijnstraat in Amsterdam.

Her murderer has not been caught, and police say they a possible motive could include anything from robbery to a possible ‘honor killing.’

The woman, Arzu Erbas, was praised by her customers as a ‘mother to everyone,’ and the ‘heart of the daycare center.’

She was stabbed after she locked up the center and got ready to get into her black Mercedus.

‘Mother’s Lap’

Erbas came to Holland 13 years ago from Turkey to study pedagogy. She opened her first daycare center in 2003, after she noticed the children at a daycare center her son attended did not receive much attention.

She named her center, “Moeder’s Schoot” (Mother’s Lap) because that is the one place a child feels safest.

Arzu Erbas also worked as a volunteer with Stichting Waterval — a Turkish foundation in her hometown of Almere, set up to promote integration.

She was an enthusiastic participant in the foundation’s ‘Bezoek Je Buren’ (Meet Your Neighbors) project, in which fellow Almere citizens were invited for meals at the homes of Turkish families.

According to Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool Erbas had been on vacation in Turkey with her husband, but returned to Amsterdam early to take care of her busy calendar.

Witnesses

Erbas’ murder was highlighted in last night’s Opsporing Verzocht a Dutch TV program similar to ‘America’s Most Wanted.’

A number of witnesses who may have seen the killer before or after the murder have contacted Amsterdam police. — DutchAmsterdam.nl