The body of Richard Cole, art expert and British poker player has been found in Amsterdam. Cole was on a holiday alone in the city and went missing on January 25th. He was last seen alive in a bar in the Thorbeckplein area of the city, where he was seen drinking with strangers.
The 30-year-old British man was an “experienced traveller”. Cole was travelling from Copenhagen to Assen via Amsterdam. To determine what happened a police investigation is on the way.
The last person, who talked to him, was his Las Vegas girlfriend, Alicia Marie, at around 2am.
In a BBC interview Alicia said:
“He had been out with some people he had just met, which is common for Richard as he is very friendly. I just said to be careful, please go home, get a cab. We got off the phone and I texted him a picture of his address to show his cab but it never went through.”
In addition, she said she though the phone had died or was turned off. In the morning she tried to contact him again without success. At the end of the day he still had not contacted anyone, so she got worried.
“When I got home from work it had been eight or nine hours and I knew something was wrong. He wouldn’t go that long – even if he was sleeping – without getting in touch with someone.”
Last week, on Monday evening, his body was found after a search utilizing sonar equipment. His brother, who had been in Amsterdam trying to find Cole, identified his body. It is not clear whether it was a foul play or not.
For many years, Cole had been an amateur tournament player, in the UK as well as the US. In June 2015 he had won the Binion’s Poker Classic Omaha Hi-Lo in Vegas.
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