A lifeless body near a burnt car in Chevaline, eight years after the massacre

The lifeless body of a man was discovered Wednesday morning near a charred car in Chevaline, Haute-Savoie, the scene of a mysterious massacre eight years ago, AFP learned from a source close to investigation.

According to the regional daily 

 which revealed the information, the corpse was discovered by firefighters in the Combe d'Ire, a forest sector where the quadruple murder, which has remained unclear to date, had taken place on September 5, 2012. This localization has not been confirmed to AFP.

The Annecy prosecutor's office was not immediately reachable to discuss the case but should communicate in the afternoon.

At this stage, the circumstances of death are unknown.

The gendarmes of the company and the research brigade of Annecy, the research section of Chambéry, covering Savoie and Haute-Savoie, and criminal identification technicians from the gendarmerie are responsible for the investigation.

Eight years ago, several people shot dead

Eight years ago almost to the day, Saad al-Hilli, 50, a British engineer of Iraqi origin, his 47-year-old wife, and his 74-year-old mother-in-law, were shot and killed in their car, on a small forest road near Chevaline.

A cyclist from the region, Sylvain Mollier, had also been killed, a probable collateral victim.

One of the girls from the al-Hilli couple was seriously injured while the second, hidden under her mother's legs, miraculously escaped unharmed.

"No link has been established (with the massacre, Editor's note) and we must not make too hasty a connection (...). The investigations are starting", commented Colonel Nicolas Marsol, boss of the gendarmerie group of Haute -Savoie, cited by the 

.