The user, known for his little ethical methods, asked his hundreds of thousands of subscribers to send him all the possible information for whom to find the trace of the fugitive.
A name that has become famous and a question that continues to fascinate the French: but where did Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès go? The man, also known by his initials “XDDL”, remains not found, fourteen years after the opening of the investigation into the assassination in Nantes of his wife and his four children, crimes of which he is the main suspect. His story has inspired scriptwriters and writers, but also Internet user Aqababe. The influencer, with more than a million subscribers on Instagram, has set himself the mission of finding the trace of the Nantes.
Aniss Zitouni (real name of Aqababe) publishes a laconic message on his social networks, Friday April 18: “Let’s find Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès.” An idea born of a simple joke of his lawyer, Tom Michel, as the person concerned in Franceinfo: “I explained his activity, which consists in finding people based on his community, and I came out that he could even find XDDL. It made him laugh and he said to himself: ‘why not try?’.”
Aqababe then asks his “Chipies“ – the nickname he gives to his subscribers – to send him any information that would allow us to find the trace of the fugitive. In parallel, the influencer creates on the social network a channel dedicated to sharing tracks. The group is soberly named “Let’s find XDDL”, With one of the rare photos known to the suspect in the background. The success is dazzling. At the end of April, the group brought together almost 400,000 subscribers.
The “chipies” are putting themselves in working order. “In total, we received 30,000 emails on the address created for the occasiondetails Tom Michel. There were completely extravagant things, conspiracy theories … “
“We can say that it is surreal, but there has been a work of restriction of the information received, in particular a legal sorting on what could be shared or not.”
Tom Michel, lawyer for influencer Aqababein franceinfo
Aqababe then pulls a first thread: “One of my sources transmitted a photo of a person who drives meto be him. Spotted [“Repéré”] Three years ago in a hidden park in Aubagne “in the Bouches-du-Rhône, he writes, cliché in support of a man on the phone turned three-quarters on a bench.
Then the eyes turn elsewhere in Europe. Aqababe relays the photocopy of a Maltese identity card transmitted by an anonymous source, which tells of having obtained it during an internship in a real estate agency on the island of Gozo. Another “chipie” asks Chatgpt to compare the photo of the document and that of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès. Result: there is “About 70 to 80% chance that it is the same person to different times”ensures AI. The influencer shares an address in which the man would have been seen, the name of a university where he would have studied, and the track of a monastery, a place “often isolated and discreet [qui] very easily escapes any surveillance “underlines a surfer.
Always from the identity document, Aqababe publishes the photo of a man recovered on a dating site. Questioned by the influencer, Chatgpt believes that “Yes the photos are alike, it is the same person”even if AI recognizes only “Notable resemblance” With Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès.
Anonymous testimonies are increasing. Some believe they have crossed the Nantes in 2011 in Versailles, other years the south of France, between 2013 and 2015, sometimes in a hotel in Marseille, a telephone store in Peymeinade, or in a parking lot in Aix-en-Provence. “I think of the theory he dragged thoroughly in France before leaving wildly and clandestinely the country to go to An area nearby “estimates Aqababe. At the same time, he says “Connect with the PJ [police judiciaire] from Nantes “. Asked about potential exchanges with the influencer in recent days, the prosecution has not responded to franceinfo. Tom Michel recognizes for his part that there was “No direct and official contact”.
The influencer then decides to immerse himself in the depths of the Internet in search of information on the past of the family, in particular on the blogs frequented by the suspect and his wife Agnès. “These elements had already been found by Internet users at the very beginning of the investigation”, In 2011, recalls Anne-Sophie Martin, journalist who wrote the investigation book The disappeared. “They, for once, went faster than the police.” “Chipies” also peel press articles – including the very popular magazine investigation Society – or the Fugitive Wikipedia page.
Aqababe and his fans then decide to follow the track of Laurent N., an airplane pilot who would have dinner with the best friend of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès two days before the disappearance of the suspect, as wrote Society. “We got hold of confidential documents. The pilot would currently live on Malta with his wife and son,” Ensures a user. Has a survey published on the canal, more than 4,000 people judge that Maltese theory is confirmed and encourage Aqababe to “[sauter] on the plane “.
“The approach annoys the Nantes prosecutorsays RTL. The latter believes that this type of initiative is time -consuming for investigators and generates many false tracks and few results. ” On his canal, Aqababe sweeps this remark with a back of hand: “I admit, he is not happy, internally, I was already told yesterday, but we advance, he should be happy.” The influencer’s lawyer assures franceinfo “Do not be in contradiction with the prosecutor”judging that The magistrate “is in his role”. “However, the work of the investigators did not lead to fourteen years and other magistrates said that it was a way to relaunch the case”he adds.
Former prosecutor Jacques Dallest thus estimated with the Parisian that the approach could “Be useful if it is not malicious”while conceding “Risks of abuse”. Because the methods used within the framework of collaborative “survey” question, in particular on the risk of throwing an unknown into pasture which has nothing to do with the fugitive. “We tried to frame things legally and the goal was not to harm those who resemble XDDL, but Aqababe could be a little exceededrecognizes his lawyer. He posted a photo with too much information, which made it possible to identify the person, but he quickly deleted it “.
Aqababe is known in the world of influence for his little ethical actions, as he himself recognized at the microphone of youtuber Sam Zirah in 2023, recalling having disseminated Photos bare from stars of reality TV without their consent. Some of his revelations have also earned him several complaints and two convictions, one for defamation, the other for death threats.
After highlighting the Maltese track for more than a week, the outcome is ultimately quite different. “He is in Living Asia”writes Aqababe on Saturday evening, joining his message a photo of a man standing in front of a sign with Japanese inscriptions, before deleting the posts and the shot. “These new avenues could allow you to close this file”said his lawyer in a statement on Monday, specifying “To justice the fruit of this operation.It is up to it to complete these new tracks and to engage, if necessary, the appropriate consequences “.
The Nantes prosecutor nevertheless ended the discussion, a little later, declaring that “No factual and verifiable element is[avait] been brought to the attention of the Nantes jurisdiction “. “Aqababe will provide the elements he found in justice and it is she who will choose, or not, to take them into account in his investigation”said his lawyer in Franceinfo, adding that the digital hunt stopped there.
What is this information worth? Questioned by The Parisianthe former Roman police captain Portolas and author of the novel How I found Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès believes that there is nothing new. “These are people who do not have a methodology (…) The photos sent to this channel do not look like at all [au suspect]people are not physiognomists. We do not improvise investigator “he advances. For Anne-Sophie Martin, nevertheless, the “Possibility to find Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès will necessarily go through a report ” somewhere in the world, since the investigation of the police and the justice “has so far failed”.
