Police find DNA traces of missing Lina
For ten months, there has been no trace of Lina. The 15-year-old wanted to travel from Saint-Blaise-la-Roche to Strasbourg. But she never made it there. Now, investigators have discovered DNA traces of the teenager in a stolen car.
In the search for the missing 15-year-old Lina in Alsace, investigators have made a breakthrough. The gendarmerie has identified a car that was in the area at the time of the teenager's disappearance, according to the Strasbourg prosecutor's office.
DNA traces of the teenager were secured in the stolen car. The investigators are now determining under what circumstances the teenager entered this car. The prosecutor expressed confidence that this breakthrough will enable the search to locate Lina. No comment was made regarding an arrest or a suspect.
The 15-year-old went missing on September 23 of last year on a three-kilometer long footpath to the railway station in Saint-Blaise-la-Roche. The teenager wanted to go to Strasbourg to see her boyfriend, but she never arrived.
Two witnesses saw her on her way to the station. However, the investigators know that she did not get on the train. Around the same time, the phone of the missing person stopped sending signals. A message sent to her boyfriend is the last known sign of the 15-year-old. Extensive search efforts have been underway since then, involving around 400 local residents. Several cars and numerous houses were searched, as well as containers at a landfill. Divers from the German-French waterside police also searched a lake.
Due to witness statements, the investigators had focused on various car types during the search. Then, this car came into focus of the investigators, which the police had kept secret until now.
The international police force has been notified about the missing 15-year-old, Lina, due to the cross-border nature of her disappearance. With the DNA trace found in the stolen car, there's hope that this international cooperation will lead to further breakthroughs in the case.
