A gendarme of the research brigade. Drawing. – F. Lodi – Sipa
Thirty-five years after the disappearance of Marie-Thérèse Bonfanti in the town of Pontcharra (Isère), research resumed on Monday in the field, indicates the Grenoble prosecutor’s office. This mother of two, 25 years old at the time, has not given any sign of life since May 22, 1986 when she had just delivered newspapers to a building.
His belongings were found in his vehicle in the immediate vicinity of the scene. The gendarmes quickly became convinced that it was a crime. However, after several months of active research, the investigation ended in a dismissal.
A second cold case to see progress in a few days
At the request of the families, the case was reopened in April 2020, specifies the Grenoble prosecutor’s office. “The investigation, entrusted to the cold case research group of the gendarmerie, led in November 2020 to the opening of a judicial investigation against X at the criminal investigation center for kidnapping and forcible confinement”, explains Eric Vaillant, prosecutor of the Republic of Grenoble.
From this Monday, the excavations will resume on various sites surrounding the supposed places of the kidnapping with the support of the army.
This is the second cold case reopened in the Isère department in the space of a few days. Last week, the Grenoble prosecutor’s office announced significant progress in the case concerning the death of Michèle Chabert and her daughter Christine, their throats on January 7, 1993 in Sassenage. Twenty-eight years later, the husband and father of the two victims was indicted for murder, murder and rape.