The first suspect arrested on Tuesday in the investigation into the disappearance of a young couple at the end of November in Deux-Sèvres, was indicted Thursday evening for “kidnapping and forcible confinement not followed by voluntary release”, announced the Poitiers public prosecutor’s office. This 22-year-old man, who had been arrested in Vendée, has been placed in pre-trial detention and two other people, linked to this first suspect, are currently in police custody, added prosecutor Cyril Lacombe in a press release.
The couple who disappeared in the village of Prahecq near Niort, on the night of November 25 to 26, have not given any sign of life since. The indicted is a friend of Leslie Hoorelbeke, 22, and Kevin Trompat, 21, who was to host them in a house that day. The investigators noted inconsistencies between his past statements about his schedule at the time of the events and during the weekend that followed, and the geolocated record of his telephone communications.
The second suspect, arrested on Wednesday in La Rochelle, is a 22-year-old man, according to the Poitiers prosecutor’s office. His custody was extended Thursday until Friday afternoon. From a source close to the file, he is from Puyravault, in Charente-Maritime. This is where on December 8, belongings belonging to the missing couple were found in a clothing recycling container.
The third man placed in police custody Thursday morning is 23 years old, according to the Poitiers prosecutor’s office, which did not specify the place of his arrest. From a source close to the investigation, the disappearance of the couple could be partly linked to drug trafficking.