Two months after the discovery of the body of the 15-year-old girl, the results of the autopsy are about to be announced, some revelations have been made
The interim public prosecutor, Alexandre Chevrier, will hold a press conference on Friday December 20, 2024 at 11 a.m., more than two months after the discovery of Lina’s body. The 15-year-old teenager, who disappeared in September 2023 near Strasbourg, was found lifeless 500 km from her home in October 2024. Her body was immersed in the Nièvre.
The results of the autopsy have been eagerly awaited for weeks, in the hope of understanding under what circumstances the young girl disappeared, and how to explain her death. Partial results were revealed in the press very early on, revealing the possibility of asphyxiation. Information widely relayed even though it was not yet substantiated, which caused annoyance among the teenager’s relatives, but also the prosecutor’s office.
Potentially strangled with a bag
The prosecutor’s press conference this Friday could take stock with the analysis results now substantiated. Our colleagues from L’Est Républicain announced in advance that the cause of Lina’s death would be linked to strangulation, potentially with the strap of a “tote bag” type fabric bag. A hypothesis put forward by the discovery of fragments of fabric around the young girl’s neck.
The analyzes did not discover any traces which could reveal that Lina was the victim of other types of violence or mutilation, particularly of a sexual nature.
Questions may remain unanswered
Gray areas remain, questions that investigators may never be able to answer. The main suspect in the disappearance, and probable kidnapping, of Lina, Samuel Gonin, hanged himself at his home in Besançon (Doubs) at the beginning of July 2024.
Only a few days later, the car he was driving in Bas-Rhin and in which Lina’s DNA was detected, was found in an impound in Aude, in Narbonne. An element which had completely relaunched the investigation. By retracing the route of this stolen vehicle in Germany, searches were resumed in the hope of locating Lina’s body. This was the case in a stream in Peuilly (Nièvre), an isolated place to which the suspect had gone the day after the disappearance of the teenager.
Was it a kidnapping? Was it premeditated? Why Lina and how? Samuel Gonin killed himself before giving the beginning of a response.
