Disappearance of Lina: the three police custody “have been lifted”, “no incriminating elements”

Europe 1 with AFP 9:31 a.m., March 27, 2024

Another door closing: the three police custody as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Lina, 15, in September in Bas-Rhin, "were lifted" on Wednesday, without proceedings initiated against the people interviewed . Three people had been placed in police custody on Tuesday, but these "were lifted last night" because there were "no incriminating elements", AFP learned on Wednesday from a source close to the investigation. These police custody had raised hopes of progress in a case which had seemed to be at a standstill for six months.

They were intended to carry out “checks”, “close leads”, a source close to the investigation explained on Tuesday. The three people were notably to be questioned on inconsistencies in their schedule on the day of Lina's disappearance. Other witnesses were also summoned to be heard freely. “Since the opening of the judicial investigation on October 1, 2023 into the charges of kidnapping and criminal confinement, the investigations have continued without stopping in order to search for young Lina,” the public prosecutor said in a press release on Tuesday. from Strasbourg, Yolande Renzi.

These police custody "are part of this objective aimed at exploring all avenues useful for revealing the truth and considering the relevance of all the hypotheses put forward", added the magistrate.

Call for testimonials

Late in the morning of September 23, Lina left her home in Plaine (Bas-Rhin) to walk to the Saint-Blaise-la-Roche station, about three kilometers away. She had to take a train to join her boyfriend in Strasbourg. Not seeing her arrive, he alerted the young girl's mother. Witnesses, including the former mayor of the village, saw Lina walking on a small road towards the station between 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. The teenager's phone stopped transmitting at 11:22 a.m. and has not been found.

Despite extensive searches over the following days, no trace of the young girl was found. A little more than six months later, this disappearance remains a mystery. Last Friday, during a press conference, Lina's mother, Fanny Groll, launched a call for testimony, in the hope of progressing the investigation. “If anyone remembers anything, has forgotten to say something, a detail, it must be said, it is never too late,” she insisted.

Around twenty investigators mobilized

“All hypotheses remain open,” another source close to the investigation told AFP last week. “We remain strongly mobilized on the file”, assured this source, stressing that there were “still around twenty investigators working on the file”, who could benefit from reinforcements, “in particular on digital investigations ". At the same time, an investigation is underway into a rape reported by Lina in 2022. This case, initially dismissed by the Saverne public prosecutor's office, was taken over by the Strasbourg public prosecutor's office, which opened a judicial investigation last month.

In this case, Fanny Groll was heard by an investigating judge and "received communication of the entire file", said her lawyer, regretting that this was not the case with the investigation concerning the disappearance of Lina. Ms. Groll "does not stop asking herself billions of questions", explained her lawyer during the press conference on March 22, "she only thinks about that and therefore, having access to the tracks which would be closed would make it possible to give him some peace of mind."

Lina's mother also denounced the "cyberharassment" and "misinformation" in this case, stressing that this "hinders the investigation". To continue working to find her daughter, Fanny Groll created an association in January called “Lina’s Good Stars”. A support concert is organized on the evening of April 20 in Plaine.