Lina's disappearance: where was the teenager's body found ?

The Strasbourg prosecutor announced this Wednesday evening that Lina's body had been found in a wooded and isolated area.

Missing on September 23, 2023, young Lina, 15, had not given any sign of life since. On Wednesday, October 16, 2024, the public prosecutor of Strasbourg announced that the young girl's body was found “in a wooded and isolated area in the Nevers region”. The body was reportedly discovered while it was “submerged” in a stream below an embankment,” we learned this evening. As specified in the press release from the prosecutor, genetic analyses were carried out urgently by the IRCGN. They confirmed that these are indeed the remains of the teenager who had last been seen alive on the path that connects the family home in Plaine, in the Bas-Rhin, to the Saint-Blaise-la-Roche train station. On the day of her disappearance, the teenager was due to take the train to join her boyfriend in Strasbourg for a day of shopping.

For over a year now, investigators have continued their work in the hope of finding the young woman alive. A suspect has been identified in this case, a certain Samuel Gonin, 43 years old. Originally from Doubs and in social and family breakdown, the man finally committed suicide on July 10. “The Ford Puma vehicle used by Samuel Gonin had been geolocated at this place on September 24, 2023, the day after Lina's disappearance,” the prosecutor revealed tonight.

It was therefore thanks to the geolocation of the main suspect's vehicle that investigators were finally able to find the teenager's body. On July 26, the deputy public prosecutor of Strasbourg revealed that Lina's handbag had been discovered in the glove compartment of a car geolocated not far from where she disappeared on D-Day, and that the young woman's DNA had also been found in the trunk of the same vehicle.

Live

21:42 – The police are still on site this Wednesday evening

According to information from the continuous news channel BFMTV, searches are still underway in the area where Lina's body was discovered this Wednesday evening. The police are reportedly inspecting the surrounding area and collecting various samples that may provide some answers later to the victim's relatives.

21:24 – Remains of clothing also found

They were the ones who partly helped investigators identify the victim when the remains were discovered. According to information from BFMTV, remains of clothing belonging to the teenager were found on Lina's body. It was then genetic analyses that confirmed her identity.

200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

20:48 – Initial research had already been carried out this summer

Before these searches in the Nevers region, which led to the discovery of Lina's lifeless body, other searches had been carried out on the ground in recent months. In addition to the searches organised just after Lina's disappearance, investigators had already carried out searches in the Vosges this summer, based on the places where the main suspect had gone. Other searches in the Doubs had then been carried out. Forests and isolated places in nature were already targeted.

20:25 – Lina's body found nearly 450 km from the place of her disappearance

Found “submerged in a stream below an embankment” in a “wooded and isolated area” in the Nevers region, Lina's body was discovered nearly 450 km from the place of Lina's abduction. The 15-year-old teenager had last been seen alive in Plaine, in the Bas-Rhin. That day, she was walking from her family home to the Saint-Blaise-la-Roche train station, where she was due to take a train to Strasbourg and a day of shopping with her boyfriend.

20:01 – Is the place where Lina's body was discovered the place where it was deposited? ?

This is one of the questions that investigators will have to try to answer. As an expert mentioned earlier on BFMTV, the place where Lina's body was discovered is not necessarily the place where it was deposited. Investigators will therefore have to go back up the river in search of elements that could indicate that the young woman's remains passed through there. It is also a question of determining the causes of her death. Did the teenager drown ? Did her murder take place near Nevers or just after her disappearance in Bas-Rhin ?

19:44 – After the discovery of Lina's body, what happens next for the investigation ?

In his press release, the Strasbourg public prosecutor indicated that forensic examinations will be ordered. The objective ? “To determine the causes of death” of young Lina.

19:38 – Lina's mother's lawyer calls for “respecting the family's grief”

Contact by AFP, the lawyer of Lina's mother, Me Matthieu Airoldi, reacted to the announcement of the discovery of the teenager's body this Wednesday evening. “The period is very difficult for the family. My client is devastated,” he confided, adding: “I have no particular reaction other than to ask you to respect the family's grief.”

19:27 – Lina's family's lawyer reacts

In a press release, the lawyers for Lina's parents said that the family “does not wish to react.” Their pain is “immense”, it is soberly stated.