Young Lina, a teenager who disappeared in 2023 in Alsace whose body was found in October in a river near Nevers, probably died by “mechanical strangulation”, the acting public prosecutor of Strasbourg said on Thursday, Alexandre Chevrier.
“The autopsy operations did not make it possible to formally determine the cause of death,” notes the prosecutor. However, certain clues support the hypothesis according to which the 15-year-old girl was strangled with the straps of a “tote bag” type bag.
“Linear cracks”
In the autopsy report, the forensic doctors “took care to specify that their conclusions had to be considered with a certain caution due to the state of degradation of the body and its prolonged exposure to an aquatic environment,” the magistrate further underlines. .
“A horizontal furrow under the chin was nevertheless revealed, as well as the presence of tissue surrounding the cervical region and the base of the skull, these elements being in favor of mechanical strangulation using the tissue discovered” , he continues.
“The forensic doctors also noted the presence of linear cracks on the left part of the mandibular region, which could result from a traumatic action in the lower part of the mandible and in the upper part of the neck. Analyzes of the fabric revealed that it was a tote-bag type bag.”
“These elements tend to demonstrate that the death was the result of a strangulation maneuver using the handles of this bag,” specifies Alexandre Chevrier.
“If the analyzes make it possible to rule out death by drowning, it was however not possible to carry out a gynecological examination or sample,” continues the prosecutor. Likewise, no details are given on the date of the young girl’s death.
“All the elements are in favor of solitary action on the part of Samuel Gonin,” further indicates the interim public prosecutor of Strasbourg. The latter, aged 43, committed suicide on July 10 at his home in Besançon. He was never interviewed by investigators in this case. The judicial investigation should be closed at the end of the first half of 2025.
