- Police are still searching for Lina in Vogesen
In the case of Lina, the 15-year-old girl who has been missing for ten months in Alsace, the French police have continued their large-scale search operation following the discovery of DNA traces in a stolen car. Despite no trace of the missing girl being found on Tuesday, as reported by the prosecutor's office in Strasbourg, investigators are now focusing on a forest area in the Vosges between Saint-Dié-des-Vosges and Gérardmer, as reported by the newspaper "Vosges Matin". Investigators suspect a crime.
French Teen Missing Since Fall
Lina, who was 15 at the time, disappeared on September 23, 2021, on the three-kilometer footpath from her home to the train station in Saint-Blaise-la-Roche. From there, she intended to travel to Strasbourg to meet her boyfriend. However, investigators found that she never boarded the train.
Last Friday, the prosecutor's office in Strasbourg announced that a car had been seized in which investigators found DNA traces of the teenager. The car had been in the vicinity at the time of the girl's disappearance, as determined by GPS location data.
Driver of Stolen Car Could Have Killed Lina
According to media reports, the stolen car was driven by a local petty criminal. Investigators suspect that the man may have offered the girl a ride in September, and subsequently killed her under circumstances that remain unclear.
The 43-year-old suspect is believed to have taken his own life at his residence in Besançon, in eastern France, on July 10, as reported by "Vosges Matin". He was reportedly due to appear in court on July 22 for several counts of armed robbery. In the past, the man is said to have been hospitalized multiple times in a psychiatric facility, according to the newspaper "Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace".
The seized car, potentially linked to Lina's disappearance, was reportedly a stolen vehicle. Despite the driver's suicide, the investigation into the possibility of his involvement in Lina's disappearance continues, as the car contained her DNA traces.
