The main suspect in this case, Samuel Gonin, was found hanged at his home in Besançon last July. It was by retracing the route of her vehicle, in which Lina’s DNA had been spotted, that investigators managed to find the teenager’s body.
The body of Lina, aged 15, who disappeared on September 23, 2023 while walking to the Saint-Blaise-la-Roche station (Bas-Rhin), was found in an isolated wooded area in Sermoise -sur-Loire, in Nièvre. The body was discovered submerged in a watercourse, located below an embankment. Forensic expertise will be carried out to determine the exact causes of his death, reports The Parisian.
The main suspect, Samuel Gonin, was found hanging at his home in Besançon on July 10. It was by tracing the movements of her vehicle, where traces of Lina’s DNA had been identified, that investigators finally located the teenager’s body.
Samuel Gonin, aged 43, lived alone in Besançon in Doubs, after separating from the mother of his two children. He was unknown to the police until August 25, 2023.
Several flights
That day, he stole the bag from a 90-year-old woman, causing her to fall and seriously injure herself, before stealing 400 euros from a cash drawer at knifepoint. CCTV cameras captured the incident, but Gonin was not identified at the time.
On June 12, 2024, the investigation took a new turn when a drug addict woman accused Samuel Gonin of kidnapping. But investigations quickly revealed that these accusations were false, and his police custody was lifted. It was on this occasion that an investigator recognized Samuel Gonin as the thief filmed on August 25, 2023.
Samuel Gonin was arrested again on June 17, 2024, where he confessed to the thefts committed in August. Given his condition “extremely depressed”he is placed under judicial supervision pending an appearance scheduled for July 22, 2024, while a psychiatric evaluation is carried out.
Hospitalized in psychiatry
During his interview with a psychiatric expert on June 25, cited by our colleagues, he was diagnosed with a “borderline state” type personality disorder and reported having been hospitalized on several occasions in psychiatry, as well as having attempted suicide. repeatedly. The expert also highlights his significant consumption of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine, and notes his “dangerousness”.
On July 10, 2024, investigators went to Samuel Gonin’s house to arrest him, after finding Lina’s DNA in a car he had stolen. They then discovered his lifeless body.
Samuel Gonin’s involvement in Lina’s disappearance must still be confirmed by the results of future analyses. These will perhaps make it possible to detect traces of the suspect’s DNA on Lina’s body, thus providing decisive elements for the investigation.
