Silvan neighbours shocked by Tromp family’s disappearance

NEIGHBOURS have been shocked by Monday’s sudden disappearance of the popular Tromp family, redcurrant farmers in the tourist town of Silvan.

• Baffling disappearance: Couple feared they were being followed

NEIGHBOURS were shocked by Monday’s sudden disappearance of the popular Tromp family, redcurrant farmers in the tourist town of Silvan.

Jacoba “Coby” Tromp was found alive in a NSW country hospital ­yesterday.

But last night, police were still looking for her ­husband, Mark, in the ­Wangaratta area, 350km away.

Mark Chapman, a neighbour of the family, told the Herald Sun yesterday that the Tromps had moved in about a decade ago.

“All the family are well liked and respected,” Mr Chapman said.

“The whole family helps out on the farm in the busy period.

“They are excellent people.

“They are the kind of people who will always help you out, whatever you need.

“Honest and hardworking people.

“This whole thing is very distressing,” he said.

“There was nothing, no sign that anything was wrong.”

Mrs Tromp, a former teacher, had taken a leading role in running the farm while her husband, Mark, focused on his job at an earthmoving business.

As their three children — Riana, Mitchell and Ella — grew up, they pitched in, too.

Redcurrants have been grown at Parkview Farm, ­nestled on the corner of Chapman and Parker roads in the picturesque town of Silvan, 60km east of the city, for more than 20 years.

The fruit is harvested from mid-November to mid-January, depending on the weather.

The Tromps left their home on Monday amid family stress. Business paperwork, passports and phones were found at the house. The doors of the home had been left wide open and car keys had been left inside the family vehicles.

Ella and Mitchell Tromp address the media at Monbulk Police Station. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Speaking to the Weekly Times in 2012, Mrs Tromp said farming had been a huge learning curve for the family.

The former history and English teacher said she had been looking for a block of land to keep her horses on when she and her husband, an excavator operator by trade, bought the farm.

“It had been a redcurrant farm for about 15 years already but we really just wanted somewhere for our horses and Mark’s machinery,” she said.

“I actually didn’t know what to do with the currants, but they were there, and I knew I eventually had to do something. So I started learning and working to get them in tip-top condition.”

The family has worked with local restaurants to produce jams and jellies.

Business records show Mr Tromp invested money in local fruit company Y.V. Fresh and he was once listed as a director of a company called Direct Drainage Contractors.

The parents and their children held a share in an investment company, and Mr Tromp has also been listed as a director of Tromp Family Superannuation Fund.

[e-mail]

@davidhurleyHS