A Roadtrip Full of Folie-a-Deux

This is an unbelievable true story — literally and figuratively.

It all starts in August of 2016, on a red currant farm in Sylvan, Australia. It was a farm, and earth moving business, run by a family of five. There were the parents, Mark and Jacoba Tromp (and yes, that Tromp with an O) and their three adult children (21-29 years old): Riana, Mitchell, and Ella.

By all accounts, they were the usual hard-working, rural family. Nothing out of the ordinary.

But everything took a major turn in the last days of summer.

Those that knew the parents said they’d become increasingly stressed, but as the world soon learned, that wasn’t the worst of it.

On August 29th, the family crammed into Riana’s small silver Peugeot SUV and took off. Not for a casual outing or a day trip. No, they took off. AKA fled!

They drove as if they were being chased, for a full day and night. They finally found themselves in the town of Bathurst, over 800 kilometers away. That’s 471.1 miles for Americans.

The police would later find their home in complete disarray, illustrating how frantically they packed up.

In the opposite vein, however, there were also organized piles of their financial records laid out, going back years. One of the responding officers said “they were clearly looking for something.”

The house and other two car doors were unlocked and the keys were in both ignitions. Cellphones, credit cards, and passports were left behind. They clearly intended the trip to be off-the-grid.

This, and everything else after, shows how they thought they were being tracked or pursued. So naturally cellphones were taboo.

Except the son, Mitchell, brought his along. Mitttchelll!

Some have said this indicates he didn’t buy into whatever the rest of the family believed was happening. Perhaps, but it could just be because he realized they’d need a communication device for safety.

No matter the reason, once it was discovered — about 45 minutes into the trip — his parents made him throw it out the window.

Isn’t that responsible of them, on so many levels?

When they reached Bathurst in the grey light of Tuesday morning, it seems they finally stopped for a while.

Around 7 am, Mitchell bolted away from the rest. He said later it was because his parents, Mark and Jacoba, were becoming increasingly paranoid and difficult to tolerate.

None of the other four went after him, they just pressed on.

They headed east and ended up at a natural tourist attraction called The Jenolan Caves. It’s unclear if any of them went inside the caves, but the sisters Ella and Riana now also used the opportunity to run.

They stole a car and sped away as fast as they could. They drove south to Goulburn, where they used a phone somewhere to report their parents missing.

Funny how they didn’t include their brother. And they should have included themselves for that matter!

Nonetheless, this call to authorities brought the situation into the media. People were fascinated as the first TV and tabloid reports rolled in. How could a seemingly average, levelheaded family go on the run like this, not to mention splitting up?

More information seemed to be uncovered by the hour as the home was analyzed by police. Nothing that would indicate severe financial hardship, however… nor cult behavior, drugs, or any actual outside threat.

For all intents and purposes, the family ran away from nothing!

Back in Goulburn, Ella and Riana split ways at petrol station, presumably after gassing up the vehicle. Ella insisted on going home to feed their horses. It seems Riana allowed her to take the car and just stuck around there instead.

Ella was therefore the first Tromp to make it back home. It was still Tuesday, well into the night, and the police had already been there for hours.

While they finally had an eyewitness to the unfolding ordeal, she obviously couldn’t give any information on her family’s whereabouts.

Mitchell would arrive as well by the next morning. He had found his way home by a series of trains.

The remaining three ended up with truly unstable mindsets.

Ella had, at some point, jumped into the flatbed of a stranger’s utility truck. She was only discovered by the man driving a full hour away from where they’d been.

He described her as catatonic, and unable to say her name or where she came from. She was taken to Goulburn Hospital for psychiatric care.

Mark and Jacoba, however, were still on the loose. They drove back south and ended up in the Victorian town of Wangaratta.

Here, they also separated. So, for those keeping track… yeah! Every. Single. Member. Every single member of the family had broken away from the rest at some point.

Jacoba headed impossibly far north for someone without a vehicle. How is apparently still a mystery.

She was found 350 km (or 217.48 miles) in a place called Yass. And no, I’m not kidding. The town is actually named Yass! Yasssss, Queen….

Though this “queen” was not celebratory at all. She was said to be wandering the streets in an agitated state.

She was taken to the local hospital, and then transferred to Goulburn to reunite in the psych ward with her daughter, Riana.

Mark Tromp was finally found after tailgating a young couple out playing Pokémon Go. And when I say “tailgating,” understand we’re talking the dangerous type! The deranged type. The guy said that the original silver SUV’s taillights couldn’t even be seen behind them. That’s how close.

He then stopped short and jumped out, so the pair halted as well about four car lengths ahead. The 20+ year old man and woman got out and watched as Mark just stood in the middle of the road for several seconds.

As they were about to finally call out to him, he turned and sprinted into the forest along the roadside.

Straight out of a psychological thriller!

Now informed on their mother and sister’s hospital admission, Mitchell and Ella spoke to the media back in Sylvan. They said they couldn’t understand their parents’ paranoid behavior and pleaded for the safe return of their father.

There were several break-ins during this time in Wangaratta, one of which being a previously vacant motel room. While police couldn’t confirm it, Mark most likely stayed there.

He was finally found on Saturday evening on a roadside nearing Wangaratta Airport. Yes, this was a five day saga, and it finally came to an end.

After he was questioned and assessed for mental health, he was released to his brother (a police officer).

As his brother drove him away, Mark concealed his face and gave the assembled crowd of media the middle finger. A dramatic end to a dramatic period of chaos.

After they were all reunited back at their farm, the situation didn’t become any clearer to the family.

With every other explanation seemingly eliminated, most familiar with the case chalk it up to a rare psychological phenomenon known as Folie-a-Deux. That’s French for “the madness of two.”

It can happen between close-knit couples, siblings, or — in this case — a whole family. Basically, instead of evening each other out when a panic begins in one of the people, they reinforce each other’s delusions. Think of it as a negative feedback-loop.

Hence, the madness of two. Or even the madness of five. Whichever parent started the downward spiral, they soon shared the fear that someone was looking to kill them and take their money.

There may have been a lot of worry in the press, and damage done along they way, but at least they all are still with us.

In the end, Ella said: “It’s confusing. I think we’re all just still confused by it. Our minds just weren’t in the right place and… well…. There’s not just one reason for it. It’s bizarre.”

Even after all these years, I don’t think any of us could say it better.