Dutch detectives said on Wednesday they have identified a suspect in the brutal murder of a young boy two decades ago, in a case that has gripped the Netherlands.

Nicky Verstappen's body was found on August 11 1998, a day after he disappeared from a youth camp in southern Limburg province. He had been sexually abused before he was killed.

Police at the time mounted a massive search closely followed by local media and the Dutch public, but the 11-year-old boy's killer was never found.

As time ran out to catch the suspect, police earlier this year appealed to more than 20,000 men to donate DNA samples in a bid to close in on the perpetrator.

"New investigative techniques gave us new opportunities. We now have a one-on-one DNA match with the (DNA) traces found on Verstappen's body," police detective Ferdinand Schellinkhout told a press conference in the southern city of Maastricht on Wednesday.