The enigma surrounding the disappearance of 15-year-old Lina Delsarte on September 23, 2023 persists. Despite intensive searches and ongoing investigations, the circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain mysterious. Here's a look back at the facts and developments in the case, four months to the day after the start of the investigation that has the community of Saint-Blaise-La-Roche on tenterhooks.
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On September 23, 2023, this 15-year-old girl's life was turned upside down. On her way to the Saint-Blaise-la-Roche train station to join her boyfriend Tao in Strasbourg, she disappeared without a trace. A quarter of a year has passed since that day, and the enigma surrounding her disappearance persists. Despite the best efforts of authorities and relatives, the question remains: where is Lina?
The day of the disappearance
Lina, who has light-brown and is 1.60 m tall, was a teenager with no history of running away. She regularly took the route between her home in Champenay and the Saint Blaise-la-Roche train station, a route she knew well. However, something went wrong that day. Witnesses last saw her between 11:15 and 11:30, and her phone gave a final signal at 11:22. Surveillance cameras showed no trace of her presence on the train she was planning to take.
On the Saturday afternoon of her disappearance, the police put out an APB, triggering search parties, telephone enquiries, and the use of dog teams, helicopters and drones. Despite these efforts, no trace of Lina was found, fuelling the anxiety and mystery surrounding her disappearance.
A new emerging lead
Two months after the start of the case, the Strasbourg research section searched the house of a man living near the site of the disappearance. Although not considered a suspect at this stage, this search, explained as an operation to clear up doubts, raised new questions. The Strasbourg examining magistrates took over the investigation, qualifying it as a kidnapping lasting more than seven days.
Current leads
Four months after Lina's disappearance, the Strasbourg public prosecutor says that no lead has been favored or ruled out, while suggesting that the criminal trail is the most likely. Investigators are trying to understand why Lina never got on the train, intensifying their efforts to solve this enigma that leaves the community in suspense.
The case of Lina Delsarte's disappearance remains unsolved, despite extensive searches and leads explored. Lina's relatives, the local community and the authorities continue to hope for answers. Four months after that fateful day, the mystery persists, and the shadow of doubt hangs over the life of this young girl who should have joined her boyfriend in Strasbourg.
Lina actively sought
The search for Lina has mobilized authorities and citizens alike. To find out how everyone spent their time on September 23, the gendarmes have even recorded the license plates of those questioned. This information will be compared with recordings from surveillance cameras recently searched, providing investigators with an opportunity to move forward.
At the same time, a group of volunteers made up of mothers who were strangers to the young girl continued their search in the region, concentrating their efforts in the forest of Saint-Blaise-la-Roche, where the teenager disappeared. Two of them spoke to BFMTV Alsace of their conviction that Lina is not far away, underlining the importance of maternal solidarity in the search for the missing girl:
We feel she's not far away. We have to find her. We're mothers too, and if our child were to disappear, we'd want someone to look for her.
Read more:
⋙ Missing French teen: Man sent GPS coordinates to Lina's family telling them where to find her
⋙ Missing French teen: Police investigating murder from a week before Lina's disappearance
This article has been translated from Oh!MyMag FR.
