The adage says that reality sometimes exceeds fiction, and the story of this Rennes homeless man seems to prove him right. After his father’s death, two genealogists searched for him relentlessly for ten months. They not only found him but also told him that he had just inherited 100,000 euros.
One of these two professionals, Jean-René Ladurée, alluded to this story during his appearance on the game show “Slam” on France 3 in mid-January.
Describing “real detective work from the past”, he presented this file, dating from around five years ago, as one of the most “remarkable” for him.
Referring to his colleague, David Audibert, the genealogist says: “we settled the estate of a gentleman, we had to check if he had children”. The sequel revealed that this man was the father of two women but also of a man, much more difficult to locate than his sisters.
“It was a complex family context, against a backdrop of brutality. The son left the home as soon as he could and marginalized himself, ”says David Audibert to Ouest-France. The two accomplices had to contact “social organizations, social action centers” or even “associations” to find the trace of this lost heir.
Jean-René Ladurée and David Audibert moved to Rennes and “walked the streets”, leaving their coordinates where the man had been seen, even briefly. And he ended up calling them back. Unaware of the death of his father, he was “very affected” by the news. After that, the succession procedure lasted many more months.
The man was finally given 100,000 euros, from the sale of the family home. The general opinion is that the story is worthy of a novel, but not for the principal concerned. According to David Audibert, “money did not interest him at all”. Happy to hear from her family, this “beautiful soul” has repeatedly indicated that she “did not intend to change her way of life”.