Searches, suspect’s past, drugs… What remains to be discovered

The case of Lina’s disappearance is far from over. The interim public prosecutor of Strasbourg repeated on Thursday, “the investigation is continuing”. “There is no question of giving up, significant resources remain mobilized”, insisted Alexandre Chevrier, emphasizing the “tenacity and pugnacity” of the gendarmes. They have already identified the main suspect Samuel Gonin, but many gray areas remain to be clarified.

Excavations to resume

Where? When? How? The prosecutor has logically not revealed it, but “other searches are planned”. Perhaps in the Vosges and Haute-Saône, close to the areas already inspected, but not only. To define where to search, investigators are relying on the “on-board multimedia system” of the suspect’s car. Not the GPS since the latter had turned it off.

In short, they go to where the vehicle has stopped for a long time. Perhaps to get rid of Lina’s body or, let’s hope, to drop the girl off. “We haven’t found her body… In theory, everything is still possible.”

Why did Samuel Gonin go through this?

A small road almost lost in the Bruche valley… Lina was walking along this D350 when she got into the suspect’s famous Ford Puma, which DNA traces have since confirmed. But what was Samuel Gonin doing there? “No trace was found of contact or connection with Lina or her entourage. Nor with members of the sector or a previous visit,” declared Alexandre Chevrier on Thursday.

For the moment, investigators have found no explanation for his presence. Except that the man was “launched into a life of wandering” and “traveled a lot”. In France, in Germany… He also consumed “large quantities of cannabis, cocaine, crack”. A lead for his passage through Plaine, the town where Lina lived? “Possible but not proven”, replied the prosecutor. “It really is not a passage axis. There is no evidence to suggest that he knew this place.”

The troubled past of the main suspect

“Undetectable”, suffering from “borderline personality disorder” according to a psychiatrist… Who was Samuel Gonin really? Investigators have not, it seems, yet dug into the entire past of the number one suspect in Lina’s disappearance. The father of two children, living in Besançon, had been “breaking away” from society since the summer of 2023, materialized in particular by his addictions to various drugs.

He had “left his family, his job” and had therefore embarked on a “road trip”. Bloody? For the moment, there is nothing to say, if only in Lina’s case. Kitchen knives were indeed found in his old car (stolen), “but none of them showed traces of blood”. The individual, who had worked in a multitude of jobs including “one in technical education”, did not have a long criminal record. In January 2024, he was found guilty of driving under the influence of drugs and endangering the lives of others in Narbonne (Aude). Result? A driving license suspension, a 1,500 euro fine and above all a fifteen-month suspended prison sentence.

This sentence could have been implemented at the end of July by the Besançon court. Samuel Gonin had to explain himself there for two violent robberies committed in August 2023 in the capital of Doubs. He committed suicide on July 10, taking with him some of his secrets.

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