Disparition de Lucas Tronche : les questions qui demeurent après la découverte d'ossements dans le Gard
Disappearance of Lucas Tronche: questions that remain after the discovery of bones in the Gard
The prosecutor of the Republic of Nimes Eric Maurel said Wednesday 23 June that bones, clothes and a bag similar to that of Lucas Tronche, were found in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, 1 km from the home of the teenager of 15 years who vanished in 2015. Analysis is underway and many questions remain.
Years of searching, annual gatherings in the commune and perhaps finally an end to this sad story. On Wednesday 23 June, six years and three months after the disappearance of Lucas Tronche, 15 years of age in the commune of Bagnols-sur-Cèze in the Gard, the Nîmes public prosecutor Eric Maurel announced on Thursday that "bones, a bag and scraps of clothing (...) "strongly resembling" those worn by the teenager on the day of his disappearance had been found on "steep rocky slopes on a cliff about a kilometre from the young man's home."
"The discovery of a body that could be that of Lucas seems to us to put an end to these six years of searching but also of hope," the parents of Lucas reacted at the end of the day on Twitter. "Today is the time for silence. This silence, once deafening, is necessary to allow us to gather ourselves, to try to calm ourselves and to continue without him. Analyses have been requested but many questions remain.
On Wednesday 18 March 2015, 15-year-old Lucas Tronche was due to attend a swimming lesson at the municipal pool. He told his older brother, Valentin, 17, that he would meet him at the bus stop. When Valentin did not see him arrive, he texted his brother: "Where are you? The text message sent at 5.27pm went unanswered.
Afterwards, an appeal for witnesses was launched and numerous searches carried out by the police and citizens were unsuccessful. "We had 3,000 volunteers for 15 days after the disappearance of Lucas," according to Jean-Yves Chapelet, the mayor of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, when contacted by LCI.
"Searches were carried out at the top and bottom of the 60-metre-high cliff, but the place where the bones, bag and bits of clothing were found is impossible to access other than by abseiling. That's why we called in the firemen from the Gard, the Groupe de reconnaissance et d'intervention en milieu périlleux, [the Group for Reconnaissance and Intervention in Dangerous Environments] to go there. One of these specialists then saw the backpack," the public prosecutor explained.
Why did they return to this area on Wednesday 24 June? The Lucas Tronche case has been in the hands of a new investigating judge for several months. "This investigating judge decided to fill in the small white spots that remained in the search area, given that these areas were the most difficult to access. The search began almost a week ago. Cliff after cliff was systematically checked by the fire brigade. We had been working horizontally, but this time it was vertical, i.e. areas where only experienced specialists can access," the magistrate detailed on BFM this Friday morning.
On Friday 25 June, the prosecutor added that in addition to the backpack, the debris of clothing and bones, "new elements had been discovered" and "also seem to have belonged to Lucas Tronche. He had not wished to say more at the end of the morning but after leaks in the media, the magistrate finally gave details at the end of the afternoon.
"Beyond the bones, knowing that new bones themselves have been discovered, a jacket has been found. It is now almost certain that this jacket is that of Lucas Tronche. A watch was also discovered very recently and it is almost certain that it is the watch of Lucas Tronche," Eric Maurel said. A backpack was also found, and if there was still some uncertainty about this backpack, it is increasingly likely that it is that of Lucas Tronche. Finally, tennis shoes were found, but there is still some ambiguity as to whether these shoes are those worn by Lucas Tronche. The mother of Lucas Tronche has not formally recognised them but they have not been formally ruled out either. Forensic examinations and genetic samples will make it possible to be certain that the bones found are indeed those of Lucas Tronche.
"We are going to wait for genetic comparisons with forensic and scientific analyses to ensure that the bones found are indeed those of Lucas Tronche. We hope to have these results as soon as possible," the Nîmes public prosecutor told the press.
For the moment, all hypotheses are being considered: that of a death after an accidental fall, that of a suicide, but also the possible intervention of a third party leading to a voluntary or involuntary homicide. "In view of the items that have been found and pending the forensic examinations, it is impossible to favour one hypothesis over another. Was it an accidental fall? The naturet of the terrain makes it possible to envisage this," according to Eric Maurel on Friday afternoon. "If there was an encounter with a third party, either deliberate or accidental, with a third party who pushed Lucas Tronche into the void, we can't rule it out. The only thing I can say, but it's a personal assessment, is that the nature of the terrain makes it difficult to imagine that someone could have carried the body from the bottom of the cliff to the highest point."
Lucas' brother, Valentin Tronche, testified for the first time on Monday 7 June in the programme "Appel à témoins" on M6. He said: "I tell myself that he had planned that he did not want to go swimming and that he wanted to do something that he had not told anyone about." A hypothesis that has not been confirmed at this time. On Wednesday, the Nîmes prosecutor said that the findings had "no connection" with the M6 programme. "This search had indeed been planned for a long time," he repeated.
BBM
From another source:
'A phone that might belong to Lucas' has been found.
The backpack did not contain a towel nor swimming trunks.
Disparition de Lucas Tronche : un téléphone retrouvé et de nouveaux indices
Disappearance of Lucas Tronche: questions that remain after the discovery of bones in the Gard
The prosecutor of the Republic of Nimes Eric Maurel said Wednesday 23 June that bones, clothes and a bag similar to that of Lucas Tronche, were found in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, 1 km from the home of the teenager of 15 years who vanished in 2015. Analysis is underway and many questions remain.
Years of searching, annual gatherings in the commune and perhaps finally an end to this sad story. On Wednesday 23 June, six years and three months after the disappearance of Lucas Tronche, 15 years of age in the commune of Bagnols-sur-Cèze in the Gard, the Nîmes public prosecutor Eric Maurel announced on Thursday that "bones, a bag and scraps of clothing (...) "strongly resembling" those worn by the teenager on the day of his disappearance had been found on "steep rocky slopes on a cliff about a kilometre from the young man's home."
"The discovery of a body that could be that of Lucas seems to us to put an end to these six years of searching but also of hope," the parents of Lucas reacted at the end of the day on Twitter. "Today is the time for silence. This silence, once deafening, is necessary to allow us to gather ourselves, to try to calm ourselves and to continue without him. Analyses have been requested but many questions remain.
On Wednesday 18 March 2015, 15-year-old Lucas Tronche was due to attend a swimming lesson at the municipal pool. He told his older brother, Valentin, 17, that he would meet him at the bus stop. When Valentin did not see him arrive, he texted his brother: "Where are you? The text message sent at 5.27pm went unanswered.
Afterwards, an appeal for witnesses was launched and numerous searches carried out by the police and citizens were unsuccessful. "We had 3,000 volunteers for 15 days after the disappearance of Lucas," according to Jean-Yves Chapelet, the mayor of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, when contacted by LCI.
"Searches were carried out at the top and bottom of the 60-metre-high cliff, but the place where the bones, bag and bits of clothing were found is impossible to access other than by abseiling. That's why we called in the firemen from the Gard, the Groupe de reconnaissance et d'intervention en milieu périlleux, [the Group for Reconnaissance and Intervention in Dangerous Environments] to go there. One of these specialists then saw the backpack," the public prosecutor explained.
Why did they return to this area on Wednesday 24 June? The Lucas Tronche case has been in the hands of a new investigating judge for several months. "This investigating judge decided to fill in the small white spots that remained in the search area, given that these areas were the most difficult to access. The search began almost a week ago. Cliff after cliff was systematically checked by the fire brigade. We had been working horizontally, but this time it was vertical, i.e. areas where only experienced specialists can access," the magistrate detailed on BFM this Friday morning.
On Friday 25 June, the prosecutor added that in addition to the backpack, the debris of clothing and bones, "new elements had been discovered" and "also seem to have belonged to Lucas Tronche. He had not wished to say more at the end of the morning but after leaks in the media, the magistrate finally gave details at the end of the afternoon.
"Beyond the bones, knowing that new bones themselves have been discovered, a jacket has been found. It is now almost certain that this jacket is that of Lucas Tronche. A watch was also discovered very recently and it is almost certain that it is the watch of Lucas Tronche," Eric Maurel said. A backpack was also found, and if there was still some uncertainty about this backpack, it is increasingly likely that it is that of Lucas Tronche. Finally, tennis shoes were found, but there is still some ambiguity as to whether these shoes are those worn by Lucas Tronche. The mother of Lucas Tronche has not formally recognised them but they have not been formally ruled out either. Forensic examinations and genetic samples will make it possible to be certain that the bones found are indeed those of Lucas Tronche.
"We are going to wait for genetic comparisons with forensic and scientific analyses to ensure that the bones found are indeed those of Lucas Tronche. We hope to have these results as soon as possible," the Nîmes public prosecutor told the press.
For the moment, all hypotheses are being considered: that of a death after an accidental fall, that of a suicide, but also the possible intervention of a third party leading to a voluntary or involuntary homicide. "In view of the items that have been found and pending the forensic examinations, it is impossible to favour one hypothesis over another. Was it an accidental fall? The naturet of the terrain makes it possible to envisage this," according to Eric Maurel on Friday afternoon. "If there was an encounter with a third party, either deliberate or accidental, with a third party who pushed Lucas Tronche into the void, we can't rule it out. The only thing I can say, but it's a personal assessment, is that the nature of the terrain makes it difficult to imagine that someone could have carried the body from the bottom of the cliff to the highest point."
Lucas' brother, Valentin Tronche, testified for the first time on Monday 7 June in the programme "Appel à témoins" on M6. He said: "I tell myself that he had planned that he did not want to go swimming and that he wanted to do something that he had not told anyone about." A hypothesis that has not been confirmed at this time. On Wednesday, the Nîmes prosecutor said that the findings had "no connection" with the M6 programme. "This search had indeed been planned for a long time," he repeated.
BBM
From another source:
'A phone that might belong to Lucas' has been found.
The backpack did not contain a towel nor swimming trunks.
Disparition de Lucas Tronche : un téléphone retrouvé et de nouveaux indices
