• An elderly couple disappeared in the North on January 1 after spending Christmas Eve with their family.

  • Aged 79 and 83, the retirees disappeared on the road between Maubeuge and Roubaix.

  • All the research undertaken has yielded nothing and the investigators are not ruling out any hypothesis at this stage.

Marie-France Dumortier and Richard Di Gennaro, aged 79 and 83 respectively, disappeared on January 1, in the North.

Nearly a month later, the investigation has stalled and the call for witnesses, launched by the police on January 11, has yielded nothing concrete.

No trace of the couple or their vehicle could be found, despite the demarcation of their mobile phones.

It is the concern and incomprehension that surround the disappearance of this retired couple living in Roubaix.

Both had just spent New Year's Eve with Marie-Hélène, one of Marie-France Dumortier's daughters, in a village near Maubeuge.

They had taken to the road again on Sunday, at the end of the afternoon, to return home in their vehicle, a gray Citroën C3.

A 96 km route taking the D649 and the A2 and A23 motorways.

They vanish on the side of Valenciennes

What we do know is that the couple did drive on departmental 649, their phone having ended at La Longueville at 6:47 p.m.

“The latest mobile tracking elements make it possible to locate it the same day in Marly at 7:09 p.m.,” Lille prosecutor Carole Etienne told AFP.

A normal journey time, knowing that they left Marie-Hélène's home around 6:30 p.m.



Then nothing.

From the opening of the investigation for worrying disappearance, on January 5, the investigators carried out numerous investigations, in particular by telephone, banking and with firefighters.

They also carried out home visits, hearings of relatives, reconnaissance on the ground and aerial route, assures the prosecutor to AFP.

For their part, the relatives of the disappeared have spared no effort, contacting “hunters, waterways, towns and villages along the road”, assures Anne-Sophie, the second daughter of Marie-France.

In vain.

If the latter "thinks above all of an accident", the investigators do not exclude any specific track from the Lille prosecutor's office.

The search continues, however, especially around Marly, near Valenciennes, where the couple's phone was last located.

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  • Miscellaneous facts

  • Various facts Lille

  • Hauts-de-France

  • Disappearance

  • Call for witnesses