Disappearance of Lina: €5,000 stolen, medical treatment stopped… our revelations on the visit to Narbonne of the suspect Samuel G.

La Ford Puma volée que les gendarmes de Strasbourg cherchaient depuis des mois était à la fourrière de Narbonne. Independant – CHRISTOPHE BARREAU

The forty-year-old who killed himself on July 10 in Besançon was arrested in the middle of winter on the A9 near Narbonne by customs officers, while he was driving a stolen car, in which the DNA of the teenager who has been missing since September 23, 2023, will be found.

Little by little, the puzzle is coming together, but the main pieces are still cruelly missing. Presented as the number one suspect in the disappearance of Lina, this 15-year-old teenager who has not been heard from since September 23 in La Plaine (Bas-Rhin), Samuel Gonin, 43, who committed suicide in Besançon in July, spent some time in Aude this winter, which is now at the heart of the investigations.

Because at the beginning of January, when he was arrested on the A9 motorway after refusing to comply, as revealed by Midi Libre on Thursday 1st August, this father who seemed adrift was at the wheel of a car in which a key element was found: Lina's DNA, detected on several samples taken from the passenger compartment.

He accelerated and forced a barrier at the toll booth

Backtracking. During the weekend of January 6 to 7, bikers from Narbonne customs, who are riding on the A9 motorway near Sigean, decide to carry out a check on a car that catches their attention. A Ford Puma, registered in Germany, which is reported stolen. Problem: the driver accelerates, tries to escape them and forces a barrier at the toll booth. Stopped and subdued, Samuel Gonin was placed in police custody, and his car was searched precisely, this sector of the A9 motorway, near Spain, being particularly frequented by drug traffickers.

5000 € in liquid and a procedure for whitening

The forty-year-old is questioned about several elements which intrigue the investigators. In particular a sum of 5,000 euros; in cash that he has in his possession, for which a customs laundering procedure will be drawn up: customs officers suspect him of having wanted to go to the other side of the border to ;rsquo;supply narcotics.

He then gives a difficult-to-verify explanation for the origin of these funds: “He said he stole money from a former girlfriend, and then spent almost all of it on drugs” explains to Midi Libre a very good source.

He says he wants to settle in the region

Why was he so far from Besançon, where he was then living ? “He didn't really explain his presence, he simply said that he might consider settling in the area" specifies another source.

As for the car, he is not very forthcoming about its origin, claiming to have "bought it for 100 € from a homeless person" in his home region. A saliva sample was taken: the analysis “had revealed the presence of cocaine” the Narbonne prosecutor's office said on Thursday.

Refusal to comply, unjustified cash, driving under the influence of narcotics and receiving stolen vehicles: at the end of his police custody, Samuel Gonin was brought before the Narbonne prosecutor's office, which decided to have him tried immediately. As is his right, the forty-year-old requested time to prepare his defense. He is incarcerated until January 22, the date of his appearance in court.

Sentenced to 15 months suspended, he leaves the court free

At the hearing, he was given a 15-month suspended prison sentence, but walked out of the courthouse free. The Ford Puma was then impounded in Narbonne, where it curiously remained for several months before returning to the forefront of the news.

Because the discovery of this car should have been immediately reported to the police of the Strasbourg research section, who have been working hard since last September, with a cell of twenty investigators, to find Lina. The registration of this Ford Puma was on a list of about ten vehicles, wanted throughout France because they were driving around La Plaine, in Bas-Rhin, on September 23, 2023, and their drivers did not come forward. Was there a mistake here ?

An incomprehensible delay of several months

In a very incomprehensible way, it was only at the end of June that the Strasbourg gendarmes learned that it had been stored for months at the Narbonne pound. Initial samples from the passenger compartment were then taken by the Narbonne gendarmes. When they matched Lina's genetic profile, the car was urgently transported to the Gendarmerie Criminal Research Institute (IRCGN) to be examined.

A descent into hell for years

At the same time, Samuel Gonin continues a descent into hell that began several years ago, due to addiction and depression problems, and a marital separation. On August 25, 2023, in Besançon, a month before Lina's disappearance, he stole, knife in hand, 200 euros from the cash drawer of a supermarket and assaulted an old lady in the street, who fell to the ground and suffered a fracture. It took the police months to identify and find him, and in June they managed to take him into custody for these acts: he was due to be tried at the end of July, but he hanged himself on July 10. He left a disturbing letter to his children: “I have lost my honor, my dignity, my humanity, I have to go. I don't know how to control myself, it's going too fast. I'm in too much pain, it's better this way".

"I'm a bad guy, I almost killed people"

Samuel Gonin had mentioned this malaise during his time in the hands of the Narbonne justice system, after his attempt to escape from the customs motorcyclists. “I'm a bad guy, I almost killed people” he had admitted. “He also said that he had lost everything since he stopped taking his treatment for his depression” specifies a good source.

There are still many grey areas that the police must now clarify. We do not know the date of the theft of the Ford Puma, nor do we know when Samuel Gonin came into possession of it. Did he start driving it before or after September 23, 2023? ? Can we think that the teenager's kidnapper would have continued to use this very compromising car, since it may have contained his last genetic traces of the teenager? ? Does this famous homeless man, from whom he supposedly bought the Ford, really exist? ?

“No definitive conclusion” warns the prosecution

"The judicial investigation is currently in a very active phase, with multiple actions underway to find Lina and determine the circumstances of her disappearance" indicated this Thursday evening the Strasbourg prosecutor in a press release that seems to counterbalance the revelations made this week. "While recent investigations have led investigators to the trail of a 43-year-old man from Besançon, no definitive conclusions can be drawn at this stage on his involvement in Lina's disappearance." The searches which resumed this week at the scene of Lina's disappearance are still without results.

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