• Leslie and Kevin, 22 and 21, have been missing since November 25 in the Deux-Sèvres.
  • The indications given by three defendants allowed the discovery of two bodies, exhumed in Charentes Maritimes. Identities have not yet been confirmed. In the aftermath, two of the three suspects were indicted for "murder". The three are charged with "kidnapping, forcible confinement and alteration of the state of the scene of a crime".
  • 20 Minutes takes stock as in recent days the investigations into this disappearance dating back three months have made an unprecedented leap.

More than three months after the report of the disappearance of Leslie Hoorelbeke, 22, and Kevin Trompat, 21, in the Deux-Sèvres the investigation has accelerated in recent days. Two bodies were discovered without their identities having yet been confirmed on Sunday. 20 Minutes takes stock of the latest progress in the investigation into the couple, who have been missing since November 25.

What do we know about the bodies found?

Thanks to the hearing of the three men during their custody, two places were identified by the gendarmes in the department of Charentes Maritimes to search for the bodies. Their indications led them to the vicinity of the home of one of the respondents. A male body was exhumed in the town of Puyravault in a field along a road, says the prosecutor's office of Poitiers. Another, female, in a wooded area of Virson. The prosecutor of the Republic, Cyril Lacombe, specifies that it will be necessary to wait for the autopsies, carried out Sunday and Monday, for the identities to be formally established.



Who are the three people prosecuted?

On Tuesday, February 28, Tom Trouillet, 22, was placed in police custody before being indicted on March 2 on charges of "kidnapping and sequestration not followed by voluntary release". He was remanded in custody by the liberty and detention judge.

Nathan Badji, 22, and Enzo C., 23, were indicted on 3 and 4 March respectively for "murder, altering the state of the scene of a crime to obstruct the manifestation of the truth" and "kidnapping without voluntary release before the 7th day". They were remanded in custody. It should be noted that the prosecutor's office did not retain the charge of "murder" for Tom Trouillet, the first to be arrested in this case. It was he who was to lend his house in Prahecq in the Deux-Sèvres to Leslie and Kevin, the night of their disappearance between November 25 and 26.

According to Le Courrier de l'Ouest, his phone and that of Nathan Badji "bounded" in the same places and at the same times, the night of the disappearance of the couple. Nathan Badji is from Puyravault (Charente-Maritime) and it is in this village that belongings of the couple and rifle cartridges were found in a container Le Relais, a few days after their disappearance, according to Ouest France.

Are there any grey areas?

There are still major grey areas in this case. According to a source close to the investigation, the disappearance of the couple could be partly linked to drug trafficking involving some of the protagonists mentioned above, but it is still unknown what roles they played precisely. During the January 5 beating to try to find Leslie Hoorelbeke and Kevin Trompat, Kevin's mother-in-law said that he "had almost 10,000 euros on him" on the night of his disappearance. A sum that she had brought him to Prahecq, according to her, "to buy a car".

  • Disappearance
  • Disappearance of Leslie and Kevin
  • Couple
  • Miscellaneous facts
  • New Aquitaine
  • Poitou-Charentes