The Grenoble SR gendarmes arrested this Monday a man potentially involved in two “cold cases” aged 22 and 36 years old, CNEWS learned from the Nanterre prosecutor's office, confirming information from RTL. The suspect was identified using his DNA.
Would the case of the missing people from Isère be relaunched? This Monday, November 25, an individual – identified using his DNA – was placed in police custody following a letter of request from an investigating magistrate, CNEWS learned from the Nanterre public prosecutor's office, confirming information from RTL.
The latter is suspected of having murdered two women, the first in 1988, the second in 2002. On August 3, 1988, the body of Nathalie Boyer, a 15-year-old girl reported missing in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, was found with her throat slit. in the same municipality. Nathalie Boyer is one of the victims of the “disappeared from Isère” file which concerns nine disappearances or murders of children in the department between 1983 and 1996.
On May 12, 2002, it was that of Leila Afif who was fished out of a canal in La Verpillère. This 40-year-old mother of five was shot and killed. It was also thanks to the seals in his file that the suspect's DNA could be found.
“It’s never too late to have a bit of truth”
The Nanterre serial or unsolved crimes center (“cold cases”), created in 2022, has relaunched these two procedures. The suspect's custody can be extended for up to 96 hours, said Corinne Herrmann, lawyer for Nathalie Boyer's family, who was contacted by AFP.
“This is excellent news, it is never too late to have a bit of truth,” she continued, saluting “the tremendous work of the “cold cases” pole and the Grenoble SR.” “We finally became interested in Nathalie after 36 years” and the identification of a suspect is “hope for all the other cases in Isère,” she added. Contacted by AFP, the lawyer for Leila Afif's family, Wissam Mahlaoui, did not wish to communicate.
“Regarding a procedure currently the subject of a judicial investigation opened to the serial or unsolved crimes division concerning these two facts, the prosecution of the division will not communicate on the merits of these,” for its part indicated the Nanterre prosecutor's office at CNEWS.
