The mystery is almost solved and the conclusions are those that have been feared for months. More than a year after her disappearance, 15-year-old Lina was found. His body was discovered in Nièvre, near Nevers, after disappearing in September 2023 in Alsace.
After months of research and excavations, this painful epilogue does not signify the end of the investigation. The time has now come for research into the exact circumstances of his death. A look back at the key moments of this issue in which many questions remain.
August 24, 2023: A stolen car
The Ford Puma in which Lina’s DNA will be found is stolen in Germany, in Fribourg, probably by Samuel Gonin, a forty-year-old who has broken his ban and is suffering from psychological problems.
September 23, 2023: Last sign from Lina’s phone
At 9:23 a.m., Samuel Gonin is filmed at a gas station in Germany, where he steals fuel. He is alone in the car.
Between 11:20 a.m. and 11:26 a.m., the Ford was located on the road between Plaine and Saint-Blaise-la-Roche, in the immediate vicinity of the disappearance of 15-year-old Lina, whose phone stopped ringing at 11:22 a.m.
At 12:23 p.m. the car stops at Anould, in the Vosges, about forty kilometers from Plaine. It will then make other stops, in Saulx (Haute-Saône), and in Morvan.
October 1, 2023: Judicial information open
A judicial investigation is opened on charges of kidnapping and criminal confinement. Two investigating judges from Strasbourg are jointly seized.
January 6 and 7, 2024: The main suspect arrested then released
Samuel Gonin was arrested near Narbonne for refusing to comply during the weekend of January 6 and 7. The Ford Puma is impounded. Convicted on January 22 for this traffic offense, he was released under judicial supervision.
Early June 2024: Stolen car becomes suspicious
Investigators from the Strasbourg research section identify a suspicious vehicle by cross-referencing videos, a Ford Puma. On June 26, this car, which was still impounded in Narbonne, was transferred to the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN) for analysis.
July 10, 2024: The main and only suspect commits suicide
Samuel Gonin commits suicide in Besançon. He leaves writings but without explicit reference to Lina.
July 24, 2024: Clues point in the direction of Samuel Gonin
The first elements of exploitation of the vehicle’s multimedia system show that it was precisely at the place of Lina’s disappearance, during the period when she disappeared.
Our file on Lina’s disappearance
July 26, 2024: Lina’s DNA found in the Ford
The Strasbourg public prosecutor’s office announces that Lina’s “genetic profile” was found in the Ford. For Strasbourg prosecutor Yolande Renzi, this “major advance should make it possible to locate Lina”.
July 30, 2024: New searches, without success
Searches took place for several days in Anould, where the car had stopped an hour after Lina’s disappearance. Without result. Other searches will take place at the beginning of August in Saulx, then in Morvan, where the car also stopped on September 23, 2023. Again without success.
September 19, 2024: Discovery of ropes in the trunk
The interim public prosecutor of Strasbourg, Alexandre Chevrier, announced that Lina’s DNA and that of Samuel Gonin were found on ropes in the trunk of the car, “which tends to demonstrate that at one time or at another, Lina was tied up.” Lina’s purse was also found in the glove compartment.
October 16, 2024: Lina’s body found near Nevers
Alexandre Chevrier announces that Lina’s body was found “in a wooded and isolated area in the Nevers region”, “immersed in a stream located below an embankment”. “The Ford Puma vehicle used by Samuel Gonin had been geolocated at this location on September 24, 2023”, the day after the disappearance of the young girl, specifies the magistrate. “The genetic analyzes carried out urgently by the IRCGN made it possible to confirm that it is Lina’s body.”
