According to information from RTL, a man was arrested on Monday November 25 as part of investigations by the Nanterre cold case unit into the “Disappeared from Isère”. The individual is suspected of the murders of Nathalie Boyer in 1988 and Laïla Afif in 2000.
The end of a long nightmare? On August 3, 1988, Nathalie Boyer, a 15-year-old girl, disappeared from her mother's house during the holidays. She was found with her throat cut the next day, in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, in Isère. But, due to a lack of serious leads, the investigation into the murder of the teenager was dismissed after only 3 years, and between 1991 and 2022, not a single investigating judge will has taken over this file.
In the meantime, on May 12, 2000, Laïla Afif, a mother of five children, disappeared between her home in Vaulx-Milieu and Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, in Isère, where she was to enroll her eldest in BEP. After five days of searching, her lifeless body was discovered in the Bourbre canal and the autopsy revealed that she had died of a gunshot to the neck. But for more than twenty years, the investigators continued to go astray and the investigation never saw a twist.
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In 2022, the two investigations were finally relaunched with that of the other “Disappeared from Isère”, because they were chosen among the first seven cases entrusted to the investigation of the “cold cases” center opened that year in Nanterre. . A relief for Laïla Afif's eldest daughter, Dounia, who confided to “Dauphiné Libéré”: “One of my sisters, one of my brothers left this earth without knowing. I can’t imagine dying without knowing.”
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Betrayed by his DNA
According to information from RTL, these new investigations have borne fruit since a man in his sixties was taken into custody by the gendarmes on Monday November 25. He would have been identified thanks to his DNA, which would link them to the murder of Laïla Afif – probably via the murder weapon, which had been found hidden under a flower pot at the home of a relative. And investigators would have “numerous clues” which would link him to the murder of Nathalie Boyer.
According to France Info, the individual has a criminal record which “attracted the attention of investigators” and quoting the Grenoble prosecutor, our colleagues affirm that it is “possible” that the gendarmerie is on the trail of a “serial killer”.
Between 1983 and 1996, seven unsolved disappearances or murders of children took place in Isère. Among them, Nathalie Boyer of course, but also Charazed Bendouiou, 10 years old, disappeared on July 8, 1987 in Bourgoin-Jallieu, Ludovic Janvier, 6 years old, March 17, 1983 in Saint-Martin d'Hères, Grégory Dubrulle, 8 years old , found in agony, with his skull shattered, but alive, in July 1983 or even Fabrice Ladoux. All these files are currently in the hands of the cold case center in Nanterre.
