The Tromp Family Road Trip

A family getaway that no one remembers.

Down the Rabbit Hole
8 min readMar 16, 2022

In late August 2016, all 5 members of the Tromp family piled into the family car and drove away from their berry farm — and their successful business — without even a word to any friends or extended family. Along with their 3 children, Mark and Jacoba tromp left their cell phones, passports, and credit cards behind at their ranch and embarked on a trip off the grid. No one realized the family was missing at first, but it wasn’t long before the family of five each broke apart by themselves, their erratic behavior finally drawing attention to the situation at hand. In fact, each person turned back up to their home in Silvan, Australia, one by one, separately, and without a clue of what just occurred or why. It took 6 days for police to track down all 5 members and reunite the family in yet another case of the rare delusion called, folie a deux.

When your parents say go, you go. That’s exactly what Mitchell, Riana, and Ella Tromp did when their father Mark said they were in danger. They drove away from their successful red currant farm in the family station wagon in an abrupt excursion on August 29th, 2016. This family would be considered a tight knit group, in fact 2 of the 3 kids still lived at home with their parents, and they all still worked on the family farm. When they left Silvan, Australia, they…

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Down the Rabbit Hole
Down the Rabbit Hole

Written by Down the Rabbit Hole

I write about true crime, mysteries, and anything that’s pulled me down a rabbit hole. Good luck climbing out.

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