Mystery as missing girl’s DNA found in stolen car in major breakthrough almost a year after teen vanished in France
A MISSING French teen's DNA has been found inside a stolen car, marking a major breakthrough almost a year after she first disappeared.
Lina, 15, vanished in September 2023 as she was making her way from her home in northeastern France to a train station just under two miles away to meet her boyfriend.
Lina was due to catch a train to Strasbourg to see her partner Tao on September 23, but before she made it to the station her phone lost signal just after 11am.
The teen hasn't been seen or heard from since with her disappearance sparking a huge search.
French cops launched into action and haven't stopped hunting for clues about what happened to Lina since with a major breakthrough coming this week.
Cops uncovered her DNA inside a stolen car which was first found in the days after she vanished - not far from her last known location, reports.
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The car was sent to the National Gendarmerie Criminal Research Institute after it was discovered and deemed suspicious to investigators.
Officials say they are now set to look into the circumstances around why she would have been in the car.
They added: "This major advance in the investigation should make it possible to locate Lina."
Lina's heartbroken mum Fanny Groll reacted to the news through her lawyer Matthieu Airoldi who called it "a major step forward".
Boyfriend Tao first flagged Lina as missing when she failed to arrive at Strasbourg train station and she wasn't answering her phone.
Police studied CCTV from the station on the day she vanished and found no trace of the teen getting on a train.
I want to find my daughter again, I want her to be close to me, it's torture to no longer have your child close to you, it's a great pain
Fanny Groll
French prosecutors previously revealed two witnesses saw her between 11.15 and 11.30am heading towards the station.
Officials focused their hunt on a mountainous, wooded area between her home in Champenay and the train station in Saint-Blaise-la-Roche.
Soon a huge force of 400 people were out looking for Lina with police, volunteers, dogs, drones and a helicopter with a thermal camera also deployed.
Just a few days after Lina vanished her emotional mum Fanny issued a desperate plea to the press.
The nurse said: "Around 11:20, she sent a message to her boyfriend, that's the last time we had contact with her.
"I want to find my daughter again, I want her to be close to me, it's torture to no longer have your child close to you, it's a great pain."
She said in an interview: "I think someone wanted to harm Lina and that it was targeted."
Lina's cousin Louane also made concerning claims that the 15-year-old was receiving death threats before she went missing.
Louane told the French news show Sept à Huit: "She told me that she was being threatened with death, that her family was being threatened, that she was being told that they were going to come into her house and get her."
Lina had also reportedly filed claims of rape against two men in the years before she vanished, say Le Nouveau Détective.
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Detectives have been constantly chasing leads in the year since but say her phone hasn't been phone yet with none of her bank cards flagging a payment.
They are still open to any new information from the public with no motive or situation being ruled out yet.
Timeline of Lina's disappearance
September 23, 2023
11:10 - Lina says goodbye to Fanny and leaves her home in Champenay
11:20 - Lina sends a final text message to her boyfriend Tao
11:22 - The teen's phone loses signal
11.30 - Two witnesses say they saw Lina heading towards the station
Her boyfriend Tao later reports Lina as missing
September 2023 to October 2023
Hundreds of people start looking for Lina along the route she went missing
Police, dogs, drones and a helicopter with a thermal camera are also deployed
Cops find a stolen car near to where Lina went missing and send it off for DNA testing
May 2024
Lina's mum Fanny does an interview where she recalls her final conversation with her daughter
Fanny says: "She was so happy before she left… and then, nothing.”
The family then say they fear Lina was targeted and kidnapped
July 2024
Cops reveal Lina's DNA was found inside the car sparking investigations into why she was in the car and where she went afterwards