Breakthrough in long-running disappearance case of teenager in France
The DNA of a 15-year-old girl, who went missing ten months ago, has been found in a stolen car
Lina, age 15, was planning to get a train to Strasbourg to see her boyfriend, but never arrived
olrat / Shutterstock / police handout
A breakthrough has been made in the search for a teenager who disappeared ten months ago after her DNA was found in a stolen car in the south of France.
A man who was questioned over the theft of the vehicle committed suicide soon after the car was seized. This has led police to start looking again for the body of the teenager.
Lina, 15, went missing on September 23, 2023. She disappeared as she was walking from her home in Plaine (Bas-Rhin, Grand Est) to the Saint-Blaise-la-Roche station around 3 km away.
She was on her way to Strasbourg to see her boyfriend. When she did not arrive, the boyfriend alerted Lina’s mother.
Witnesses, including the former village mayor, said that they had seen Lina walking on a small road towards the station between 11:15 and 11:30. Her phone stopped transmitting at 11:22, and the device has not been found.
Breakthrough in case
The case reached a breakthrough a few weeks ago after months of frustration, with police believing they may have identified a man who kidnapped Lina.
He was identified as the driver of a stolen car, which was found to contain multiple traces of the girl’s DNA. The vehicle was found in the Languedoc-Roussillon area of France, and seized for DNA analysis by investigators.
Signs of Lina’s “genetic profile” were reported to have been found in the car.
“Following long and meticulous investigations…the investigators‘ attention was drawn to a previously unmentioned vehicle,” said the prosecutor to AFP.
“Investigations are continuing in order to determine the circumstances in which she got into this vehicle [and] this major breakthrough in the investigation should make it possible to locate Lina.”
The suspect - who Lina is not thought to have known - committed suicide in Besançon (Doubs) soon after the car was seized and he was questioned by police about the vehicle’s theft.
Investigators are now mounting further searches in the Bruche valley.
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“The Strasbourg public prosecutor has confirmed that investigations are continuing in order to find Lina,” the Strasbourg public prosecutor's office told AFP.
The lawyer for Lina’s mother, Matthieu Airoldi said: “I have every confidence in the gendarmerie's research team. My client and I are waiting, albeit with concern, to see what happens next.”
Marylène Correia, lawyer for Olivier Delsarte, Lina's father, said: “There is hope of locating Lina, but there are so many questions behind it: where, when, how. We'll be able to move forward, that's for sure, but in Mr Delsarte's head, right now, there are a lot of questions.”
The Strasbourg public prosecutor's office said it would give further information about the case soon.
