Have we finally found the trace of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès? In any case, a woman reported last March to the Doubs gendarmerie that she had met a man resembling the one who has been wanted for thirteen years for the murder of her family.
Objects that could contain his DNA were taken. They are examined by experts from the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN). “We can hope for a return from the laboratory within a fortnight,” said Besançon prosecutor Etienne Manteaux. The Republican East.
The woman who made the report thinks she may have crossed paths with Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès during a prayer vigil on March 9 within the community of Dominican sisters of Béthanie, in Montferrand-le-Château, 15 kilometers from Besançon. The founder of this congregation in the 19th century was Father Jean-Joseph Lataste, whose idea was the “reintegration of prisoners”, Etienne Manteaux told the press on Friday. Prayer groups held in the congregation mix lay and religious people of all ages, he added.
No formal recognition
“One of the members came accompanied by a man named Jean, whose community “The Word of Life” was dissolved in July 2023 and who said he had been walking on the roads since then, without identity documents,” said the magistrate. The man was hosted for two nights by the participants in the vigil, before setting off again on the trails. On March 12, while the release of a book written by the sister of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès was publicized, a participant thought she recognized the suspect’s features in those of Jean. She went to the police station herself to make her report.
“Among seven people present at the vigil interviewed, four think that it is not Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès at all and three”, including the person who made this report, “say that it is possible that it is him, but none (of the three) formally recognizes him,” noted Etienne Manteaux, who opened an investigation to “search for the causes of the disappearance.” “The gendarmes were able to take items, such as cans drunk by the visitor, which will be analyzed, which should make it possible to extract a DNA fingerprint. It can then be transmitted to the Nantes public prosecutor’s office in charge of the investigation into the disappearance of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès,” continued the magistrate.
1,700 reports received
“This report is in fact the subject of verification, like the 1,700 that we have already received,” declared the public prosecutor of Nantes, Renaud Gaudeul. “I cannot communicate any more information to you at this stage and must tell you that it is difficult for me to communicate with each new report. We have noticed an increase in reports in recent days, probably following the recent new media coverage of this case. »