Runaway, drowning, kidnapping… 44 years after the disappearance of their daughter on the Île de Ré, her family launches a call for witnesses

Nathalie Martin Laevens a disparu le 13 avril 1980 à Saint-Clément-des-Baleine. ARPD 17

Nathalie Martin-Laevens, 14 ans, a disparu en 1980 lors d’une partie de pêche sur l’île de Ré. 44 ans après, sa famille lance un avis de recherche dans l’espoir de la retrouver.

Nathalie Martin-Leavens, 14 years old at the time, disappeared on April 13, 1980 during a fishing trip on the Ile de Ré. She was never found. With the investigation closed, her family launched a new call for witnesses via the association Assistance and Search for Missing Persons (ARPD), forty-four years later.

Nathalie Martin Laevens disappeared on April 13, 1980 in Saint-Clément-des-Baleine. ARPD 17

A day fishing

This Monday, March 25, 2024, Sandrine Grondin, Nathalie's half-sister, and Danielle Laevens, her mother, retrace the thread of a tragic day with the South West.

At the time of her disappearance, the teenager, originally from Charente-Maritime, was fishing with her uncle and aunt on the beach of Saint-Clément-des-Baleines on the island de Ré during the holidays.

The little girl, very disappointed not to catch anything, ends up leaving the beach to go and rest in the family car. When his uncle and aunt returned to the parking lot an hour later, they found the vehicle empty. "It must have happened on the way", Danielle Laevens guesses.

Running away ? Drowning ? Kidnapping ?

However, that day, the beach was crowded with people, but no one remembers seeing the child in the rubber boots. Could Nathalie have drowned?? The tide was low, so this hypothesis of drowning was ruled out.

"We would like to close the doors of running away or kidnapping, I find it hard to believe in the drowning theory. The problem is that we are not on the same hours depending on the statements of the aunt and uncle" confides Joël Bathellier, departmental delegate of the ARPD in Charente-Maritime.

Could Nathalie have run away ? "She had no business with her, no business? money, no means of transport. And then she was epileptic. She would never have left without her treatment", explains his family, quotes BFMTV.

The kidnapping trail cannot, however, be ruled out, especially since at that time&quot ;there would have been someone on the Île de Ré who was a little mentally disturbed, but we have no proof, he confided.

Witnesses sought

The ARPD is looking for people who were there on that date, knowing that it was during school holidays, as well as former classmates who may have been there. met as a friend at the Saint-Martin college in Benet in Vendée, where she was educated between 1978 and 1980, indicates France Bleu.

The girl's profile

Of a well-built build, she is 1.50m tall. Her hair is brown, cut short. Nathalie has a scar above her lip which is barely visible and the little finger of her left hand is crooked.

The association specifies that this research extends to three departments: Charente-Maritime, but also Deux-Sèvres and Vendée. If you have information, contact the ARPD by email: nouvelle-aquitaine@arpd.fr or jbarpd17@gmail.com