Missing teenager Lina found dead in Alsace
Published: Wednesday, Oct 16th 2024, 20:10
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Just over a year after the disappearance of teenager Lina in Alsace, French investigators have discovered her body hundreds of kilometers away in a wooded area. The teenager was found in a stream below an embankment near Nevers in central France, said public prosecutor Alexandre Chevrier in Strasbourg in the evening.
According to the state of the investigation, Lina was killed by a man whom she had met by chance on the day of her disappearance and who has since taken his own life. According to the public prosecutor's office, the location data of the car in which the suspect was traveling at the time revealed that he was at the place where the body was found the day after Lina disappeared.
Suspect was driving a stolen German car
DNA traces, Lina's handbag and ropes used to tie up the 15-year-old were found in the stolen car, which was registered in the district of Emmendingen in Baden-Württemberg and seized by investigators this summer. The investigators therefore suspected a crime and systematically searched wooded areas where the suspect's car later made lengthy stops after analyzing the location data.
During a new search operation in remote terrain, the investigators came across the dead woman - more than 400 kilometers from the place where she disappeared. A DNA analysis has confirmed that these are the remains of the young woman.
Criminal case moved the border region
The spectacular criminal case caused quite a stir in the Franco-German border region. Lina disappeared on September 23 last year on her way to the train station in Saint-Blaise-la-Roche, from where she wanted to travel to Strasbourg. Investigators discovered that she never got on the train. Search measures, in which divers from the Franco-German water police were also involved, were unsuccessful. A witness claimed to have seen the young woman as a passenger in a small car, which is why owners of such cars in the region were targeted by the investigators.
The 43-year-old suspect, who had been driving the stolen car for some time, took his own life at his home in Besançon in eastern France after the car was seized on July 10. He was due to appear in court on July 22 for several violent robberies. The man is said to have been in a psychiatric clinic several times in the past. He could no longer be questioned by the investigators about Lina.
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