Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: Loïc Venance/AFP 4:45 p.m., January 18, 2024

The Toulouse public prosecutor's office announced the opening of a judicial investigation for "murder" after the discovery of the body of a 43-year-old Frenchman in an abandoned building in Asunción, Paraguay.

The investigation continues on site, and the Paraguayan justice indicated on Monday "not excluding any hypothesis" on the causes of death. 

A judicial investigation for "murder" was opened in Toulouse following the discovery of the body of a 43-year-old Frenchman in early January in Paraguay, we learned from the public prosecutor's office on Thursday.

The investigation comes after a complaint from the family of this professional videographer, Florian Géraud, filed in Massat, in Ariège, where he was from.

It will be up to “the designated investigating judge to continue the investigation following a letter rogatory or request for mutual assistance in Paraguay,” the prosecution said.

The body of Florian Géraud was found in an abandoned building

In Asunción, the justice system indicated on Monday "not excluding any hypothesis" on the causes of his death.

The full autopsy result "is not yet available. It could take up to 45 days. Extraction of data from the phone and other procedures are still underway. The investigation continues," said Paraguayan prosecutor Carla Rojas.

The Frenchman was found hanged in an abandoned building in the capital, three days after he disappeared late on New Year's Eve, according to the police and the prosecutor's office on site.

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His disappearance was reported to the police by his Paraguayan host, with whom he had been staying since his arrival in the country in mid-December.

At the end of New Year's Eve, Florian Géraud would have gone out alone in Asunción, his phone showing a last connection to WhatsApp at 4:44 a.m.

According to the Paraguayan prosecutor's office, his death was "the result of mechanical asphyxiation", a priori consistent with the hypothesis of hanging.

The deputy police chief in charge of homicides, Commissioner David Delgado, indicated that the body "did not show any trace of prior violence", as did the site where the body was found, more than five kilometers away. accommodation, where the videographer was staying.