Disappearance of a young couple in Normandy: two bodies found, a suspect actively sought… what we know about the tragedy

The bodies of two young people aged 20, who went missing on Wednesday, were found on Thursday in a town near Deauville and their deaths were of criminal origin, the Caen prosecutor's office announced in a press release. Here's what we know.

A disappearance on Wednesday January 22

Maëva Gazé and Martin Delamare, aged 20, gave no further sign of life after going out to go shopping, according to their family who raised the alarm. Maëva's car was found in Saint-Martin-aux-Chartrains, in a parking lot near several restaurants.

The couple's dog was also found. According to the family, he was “taken to a vet” by someone.

Their bodies found

Thursday evening, in a press release, the Caen public prosecutor announced the discovery of the bodies of “two young people aged 20 whose disappearance was reported to the national gendarmerie of Pont-L'Évêque (Calvados) on the 22 January 2025. They were found “in the town of Saint-Martin-aux-Chartrains”, less than 5 km away, it is added.

A death of “criminal origin”

“The first findings made on the two victims make it possible to establish that their death was of criminal origin, one of the bodies presenting significant wounds to the face and the other presenting traces likely to correspond to bullet impacts”, underlined the public prosecutor.

The Caen public prosecutor's office says it is unaware of “the circumstances in which these two young people were killed” and the possible motivations for the double homicide: “no hypothesis is excluded”.

A vast research system deployed, open judicial information

According to France 3 Normandie, a major search operation was launched in neighboring Seine-Maritime to locate a man considered suspicious.

A judicial investigation was opened against X on the charge of murder and the investigations are now continuing under the direction of an investigating judge, said Joël Garrigue.