the preferred hypothesis on the cause of his death revealed by the prosecution

MISCELLANEOUS FACTS – Two months after the discovery of Lina’s body, a hypothesis emerges about the circumstances of her death. While she was traveling between her home and the Saint-Blaise-la-Roche station, in Bas-Rhin, to join her boyfriend in Strasbourg, the 15-year-old teenager had disappeared. Investigators now believe that Lina likely died from “mechanical strangulation”said this Thursday, December 19, the acting public prosecutor of Strasbourg, 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. In the autopsy report, it is highlighted “ a horizontal furrow under the chin, 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 exposed tissue.continues the press release.

“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 the prosecution.

But 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”underlines the magistrate.

“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. It is therefore impossible to know if Lina was the victim of a sexual assault or rape just before her death. No details were given either on the date of his death.

Samuel Gonin, a suspect never apprehended

“To date, all the elements are in favor of solitary action on the part of Samuel Gonin”specifies the prosecutor. Samuel Gonin, 43, was the driver of the car, a stolen Ford Puma, in which Lina’s DNA was found by investigators.

The vehicle had also stopped near the place of the disappearance of the teenager, between 11:20 a.m. and 11:26 a.m., on the road between Plaine and Saint-Blaise-la-Roch that day. Lina’s phone stopped ringing at 11:22 a.m. An hour later, the car stopped at Anould in the Vosges, about forty kilometers from La Plaine. She will make two other stops, in Saulx (Haute-Saône), and in Morvan.

In September 2024, the prosecution announced that Lina’s DNA and that of Samuel Gonin had been found on ropes in the trunk of the car, proving that ” Lina was tied up”. Her purse was also found in the glove compartment, finishing ” demonstrate the involvement of Samuel Gonin » in the disappearance of the teenager.

But the forty-year-old will not be able to answer questions from either the police or Lina’s relatives. He committed suicide at the beginning of July at his home in Besançon, leaving a few notes, without specifically alluding to the disappearance of the teenager.

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