During renovation work, the owners of a house in Erstroff (Moselle) discovered bones in a corner that they had never noticed before. The deceased could be the former occupant of the premises, who disappeared in 2009.
What if, all these years, he had been right there? In Erstroff (Moselle), bones were found on Saturday in the house of a man who mysteriously disappeared fifteen years ago. The deceased was discovered by the new owners of the home, purchased in 2023, while they were carrying out renovation work there. “It is a remains reduced to the state of a skeleton […] She was in an outbuilding which is adjoining the main house, in an inaccessible place, under the roof of this outbuilding, access to which was almost hidden.specifies this Monday, November 4, the public prosecutor of Sarreguemines Olivier Glady to the AFP, confirming information from the Lorraine Republican.
The remains were sent to the Strasbourg Forensic Institute for identification. According to the prosecutor, “it is quite likely” whether it was the former owner of the house, a man who died at the age of 81. The latter vanished on a day of thick fog, April 14, 2009.
As told by Lorraine Republicanthat Tuesday, the man got up, had breakfast, prepared his wife's coffee as usual and waited for the baker's van. After greeting his neighbors one last time and dropping off the bread at his home, he no longer gave any sign of life.
The affair, which remained in the memories, had shaken the approximately 200 inhabitants of the village. Forests, neighboring towns, ponds… Searches had been organized to try to find the retired miner. Military, civil authorities and locals joined forces at the time. Without success.
“Water infiltration”
In the end, it was a few drops of water that perhaps made it possible to resolve this cold case. “It was while looking for the causes of rainwater infiltration into the roof that one of the owners somewhat inadvertently accessed this cubbyhole, in which he discovered the skeletal remains”reports Olivier Glady. Still hanging in the attic, a rope was found near the deceased. Enough to lead the prosecutor to assume: “The scene […] is suggestive of suicide. The Forbach investigation brigade is responsible for the investigation into the search for the causes of death.
In 2021, years after the disappearance of the octogenarian, one of his daughters still confided to Lorraine Republican : “Not knowing, not being able to grieve, it’s complicated”. The previous year, his wife had died, without ever obtaining answers to her questions. In order not to forget and reunite the couple despite the circumstances, the family had their two names inscribed on the same tombstone.
