The body of a French teenager who went missing 13 months ago has been found halfway across the country from where she was last seen after a lengthy police search, authorities said.
Police have been searching for the 15-year-old girl, known only as “Lina” in French media, since she mysteriously disappeared on September 23 last year.
They collected thousands of reports, conducted hundreds of interviews, and analyzed hundreds of vehicles.
But it was GPS data extracted from the suspected killer’s car that found her on Wednesday in a wooded area in central France’s Nièvres region, about 500 miles from the scene of her disappearance in the country’s eastern Alsace region.
Alexandre Chevrier, chief deputy prosecutor in Strasbourg, said DNA tests were able to identify the remains.
This photo shows a photo of Lina, a 15-year-old girl who disappeared in September 2023, on display in the village of Saint-Blaise-la-Roche in eastern France on July 30, 2024. Frédéric Florin/AFP via Getty Images
At 11:22 a.m. on September 23 last year, the girl’s smartphone tracking signal was lost as she was walking along a small road toward the station in Saint-Blaise-La-Roche, a village of just 250 people, to catch a train. . She headed to Strasbourg to meet her boyfriend.
A week later, police began investigating him for kidnapping.
After months of fruitless searches, police identified a car known to have been nearby when Lina went missing, a Ford Puma.
The vehicle was used by the main suspect in the case, Samuel Gonin, who committed suicide in July before being questioned. According to French radio network RTL, Gonin left a farewell letter that read in part: “I have lost my honor, my dignity, my humanity. I have to leave. I have no idea how to control myself. “We don’t know and it’s too soon.” ”
Analysis of his car’s geolocation data allowed police to identify several locations where the car stopped, including the one the day after Lina’s disappearance, which ultimately led to the discovery of the body. . Her body was found submerged in a stream below an embankment, RTL reported, citing prosecutors.
A day after the body of 15-year-old Lina, who disappeared in September 2023, was found in Sermoise-sur-Loire on October 17, 2024, the French gendarmerie set up a security perimeter to continue searching for evidence. ARNAUD FINISTRE/AFP via Getty Images
A post-mortem examination, including an autopsy, can help determine the cause of death.
General Daoust, former head of the laboratory of the forensic department of the French National Police, told RTL: “Even if the body is severely degraded, we will still get some answers.”
