REPLAY. Death of Lina: a “devastated” mother, body discovered nearly 500 km away… the teenager found more than a year after her disappearance

Lina avait disparu le 23 septembre 2023 en Alsace. MaxPPP – AFP

Ce mercredi 16 octobre 2024, le parquet de Strasbourg a annoncé que le corps de la jeune Lina, disparue depuis plus d’un an a été retrouvé dans la Nièvre.

The essential:

The interim public prosecutor of Strasbourg Alexandre Chevrier indicated this Wednesday in a press release that Lina's body was found in Nevers in Nièvre. The vehicle of the main suspect in this case, Samuel G., had been located in the area where the body was found. 8:15 p.m.

The body found

The body was discovered “in a wooded and isolated area of ​​the Nevers region” , “submerged in a stream located below an embankment”, is written in the press release from the acting public prosecutor.

He specified that the genetic analyses carried out urgently by the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN) “allowed us to confirm that it is Lina's body” .

9:39 p.m.

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9:23 p.m.

Clothes found

According to a source close to the case contacted by BFMTV, the police are still on site. They found the body of the teenager with clothes, which made it easier to identify the young victim.

But it was the emergency genetic analyses carried out by the IRCGN that made it possible to formally identify Lina.

9:02 p.m.

Hundreds of interviews and vehicles analyzed

For over a year, investigators have been working to find Lina. It is necessary to underline the “perseverance” of the latter, who are now awaiting the results of the forensic examinations.

Although information concerning this case was barely communicated, the investigators never stopped working. In total, “more than 400 hearings were carried out, thousands of procedural documents were drawn up, hundreds of vehicles were analyzed”, indicated on a source close to the case at BFMTV .

8:42 p.m.

500 kilometers

Lina had disappeared in September 2023, while she was going to the Saint-Blaise-la-Roche station to go to Strasbourg.

But the girl's body was found in the Nevers region, which is nearly 500 kilometers from the place of disappearance.

8:37 p.m.

Experts on site

According to BFM Alsace , the lawyers of Lina's parents went to the place where the body was discovered. Several experts were also dispatched to the scene.

“Before giving way to contemplation, they [Lina's father and mother] are still awaiting the reports of the experts dispatched to the scene of the discovery” , indicated the lawyers Me Correia and Me Airoldi, in a press release.

8:30 p.m.

Grey areas

The teenager had disappeared on September 23, 2024 in the Bruche Valley in Alsace. If Lina's body was found and lifts the veil on part of the mystery that hung over this case.

However, Samuel G. was the main suspect, because the DNA had been found in a car that he had stolen. These traces had been found last summer. But if Samuel G. was in the investigators' sights, the latter killed himself in Besançon (Doubs).

With this suicide, the suspect left with many questions that are being asked by family, friends, but also the police. Several gray areas still hang over the investigation, which is continuing.

8:22 p.m.

Lina's friends in shock

This case has been shaking up France for over a year. The announcement by the public prosecutor's office this Wednesday has plunged many people into deep sadness. First of all, the family, but also Lina's friends.

“I received a message telling me: 'did you see?' and I knew straight away. I looked on the Internet, I shouldn't have… I was flabbergasted. It's very difficult” , one of them told our colleagues at BFM .

8:21 p.m.

The suspect's vehicle geolocated in the area where the body was discovered

The vehicle of the main suspect, namely Samuel G., was geolocated in the area where the body was found, the day after the girl's disappearance.

8:17 p.m.

A “terrified” mother

Contacted by BFMTV and Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace , the family did not wish to comment. However, the lawyer for the girl's mother, Me Matthieu Airoldi, responded to AFP. “This is a very difficult time for the family, my client is devastated, I have no particular reaction other than to ask you to respect the family's grief” , he declared.