The man’s death was confirmed to the newspaper “Telegraaf” by his family and friends after the police pulled the body from the water of Rijkerswoerdse Plassen at 13:20 on Tuesday.
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His brother Dean shared a childhood photo with Ben on Instagram and wrote: “Today my dear younger brother died. I have never felt such pain as I do now. What a terrible day for all of us.”
Although the official identification of Ben Saunders has not yet been completed, he had several distinctive tattoos and was well known in the Gelderland biker community.
According to the police, the death is not linked to a crime. Saunders’ disappearance was reported earlier the same day.
Saunders was born in London and moved to the Netherlands with his English parents during childhood. He grew up in the North Holland town of Hoorn and later moved to Arnhem, where he opened a tattoo salon.
The big break in his career came in 2011 when he won “The Voice” project, impressing the judges during the audition with his interpretation of Kings of Leon’s song “Use Somebody.”
He and his brother Dean, who won the “Popstars” project the same year, participated in various talent shows for a decade, including the 2003 Dutch Eurovision selection. In the early 2000s, they formed the group “Follow That Dream.”
Ben’s winning “The Voice” song “Kill for a Broken Heart” reached 4th place in the Dutch Top 40 chart, and his first solo album “You Thought You Knew Me By Now” immediately topped the charts in April 2011.
Health problems and troubles with the law
However, the fame was short-lived – Saunders began complaining about health problems and got into trouble with the police. He was hospitalized for a while due to stomach pains, and “Telegraaf” reported that he had to lean on a cane on stage because of a hernia.
In 2016, he was sentenced to community service for assaulting a traffic controller and was also ordered to compensate a café owner for damaged premises.
It also emerged that Saunders belonged to the biker club “Satudarah,” which was banned in 2020 due to widespread links to organized crime, violence, and drug trafficking.
