Gerrit Jan Heijn (February 14, 1931, Zaandam – September 9, 1987) was a Dutch businessman, who was a top manager of Ahold until his death in 1987.[1] His grandfather was Albert Heijn, who originally founded the family business, and his older brother was also named Albert Heijn, who was the founder of Ahold. His son Ronald Jan Heijn played for the Dutch national field hockey team.
On September 9, 1987, he was kidnapped near his villa in Bloemendaal, the Netherlands by Ferdi Elsas. Although Elsas murdered him only a few hours after the kidnapping, he pretended that Heijn was still alive for a long time and asked for ransom. He sent the Heijn family Gerrit Jan's glasses and severed little finger. Elsas was caught when he started spending banknotes of the ransom he received, of which the numbers had been recorded. He served a prison sentence and was freed in 2001.
Elsas gave directions to Heijn's body, which was buried in the woods near Renkum. Gerrit Jan Heijn was cremated on April 9, 1988 in Driehuis.
His kidnapper, Ferdi Elsas, was killed on August 3, 2009 in an accident when he got struck by an excavator while riding his bicycle near the town of Vorden, Gelderland.
The 2004 movie The Clearing is loosely based on the kidnapping and murder of Gerrit Jan Heijn.[2]