The last drive had yielded nothing. On January 5, a hundred volunteers, dressed in fluorescent yellow vests, met in the early morning in front of the church in Prahecq (Deux-Sèvres), on the initiative of Kévin Trompat’s mother-in-law, Karine Prat. The 21-year-old young man, his partner, Leslie Hoorelbeke, 22, and their dog, a German Shepherd mix, mysteriously vanished on the night of Friday November 25 to Saturday November 26, after spending the evening at a friend’s house. with a friend in his forties who lives in this town in the Niort countryside.
Objective of the hunt: search the woods near the Château de la Voûte and explore the paths around the villages of Fors and Marigny, about ten kilometers further south. Among the participants, Théo, a friend of the deceased. He is certain: Kevin would never have been able to leave “overnight, without taking his two dogs, without taking his truck, finally without leaving news to anyone”, he explained to the many journalists present. The relatives of the couple, who had been dating for three weeks, lean towards “a bad meeting”.
10,000 euros in cash
Judicial information was first opened for “disturbing disappearance”, then for “kidnapping and kidnapping” The investigation, entrusted to the gendarmes of the Poitiers research section, is moving towards the criminal track. The Niort prosecutor’s office in fact relinquished the case on December 27, in favor of the Poitiers criminal investigation center. “We don’t see what could have happened. They had no enemies. They are young people without problem, ”assured Karine Prat.
The evening of their disappearance, Kevin and Leslie spent part of the night at Nicolas, a longtime friend of the young man. During the evening, Karine Prat came to see her son-in-law to “bring him some things he needed”, as well as a “sum of money to buy a car”. No less than 10,000 euros in cash, earned by moonlighting in the markets. Around 9 p.m., Kevin slips away. He has an appointment in the town hall square. “He was stressed when he came back. He was not well. Water got on his face. He told me the meeting didn’t go as planned. That there were five suspicious people in a car”, testified his mother-in-law to the Western Mail. The latter left the couple around 10:30 p.m.
“Since the start, I tell them that they have been kidnapped”
The party continued until 2:30 a.m. On the program, veal blanquette and video games. Kevin and Leslie then had to sleep in the neighboring house of another friend, Tom, who joined a rave party in Parthenay. When the latter returns home the next day, he notices that the couple’s belongings have disappeared. The two lovers had to spend the weekend in Bordeaux where the young man had to buy a car. But they will never get there. Leslie Hoorelbeke’s van was found in Prahecq and his friend’s converted van near a fishing hut in Coulon, in the Marais poitevin.
On December 3, an investigation was opened by the Niort prosecutor’s office after the girl’s father, who launched his building business a few months earlier, reported her disappearance to the gendarmerie. “She had absolutely no intention of leaving,” he told the newspaper. South West. “Never did she imply that she wanted to disappear. Kevin, he was looking for a job and had just bought his converted truck. He was even planning, according to his mother-in-law, to open a fishing and hunting tackle store, “his passion”. “He doesn’t want to run away, my little one, that’s what I’ve been telling the cops from the start,” his father, Guy, told the Western Mail. “From the start, I tell them that they have been kidnapped,” he added. “I want to find my son as soon as possible. I’m going to be crazy. »
Kevin’s relatives decided to organize a new beat. The appointment is fixed this Saturday, in Fouras. Where the young man’s phone would have ended for the last time on November 29.