Missing French teen: This is why the police seized Lina's boyfriend's phone

Lina has been missing for two weeks now. The teenager was on her way to Strasbourg to meet up with her boyfriend Tao, five years older than her. She had to walk 3 kilometers before taking the train at Sainte-Blaise-la-Roche station in Alsace. She never reached her destination.

It was the boyfriend, who hadn't heard from her, who finally got worried and raised the alarm. Tao was also the last person to have been in contact with Lina before she suddenly disappeared. Since then, he had claimed to have lost his cell phone while searching for his girlfriend in a disused factory, according to La Dépêche.

Tao's phone in the hands of investigators

Although he was once suspected by public opinion, Tao is not currently considered a suspect in this investigation. However, questions are still being asked about his phone. On September 28, Le Nouveau Détectiveexpressed doubts about the young man's version of the loss of his phone. A week later, they revealed new information according to which Tao had gone to the factory where his phone had fallen into a manhole, in the company of Lina's mother, Fanny. Gendarmes were then alerted and arrested the young man.

Since then, according to the newspaper, the phone has not been lost. The owner of the abandoned building told one of Lina's neighbours:

The cell phone has been found. It had fallen into the gutter, which runs into the building, under the slab. So they broke off a piece of the slab and recovered the phone.

Since then, the cell phone has been in the possession of the police.

Read more:Missing French teen: Expert claims 'there is still hope' of finding Lina alive

What are the investigators looking for in this phone?

Just before she disappeared, Lina had sent a video to her boyfriend. The former mayor of Plaine had spotted her taking a selfie, then vanished into thin air. According to La Dépêche, it was this extract that the investigators wanted to watch on Tao's phone.

They aspire to find potential leads in this short video. Such as the possible presence of a vehicle at the scene, or people following the young girl. In addition, the police plan to analyze the written exchanges with Tao to understand Lina's emotional state at the time of her disappearance.

Read more: Missing French teen: Another 14-year-old girl was approached by odd man days before Lina disappeared

This article has been translated from Oh!MyMag FR.

Source used:

The New Detective
LaDépêche