Influencer Sonia Bellina found charred in the Gard: suspect charged with murder
The partially burnt body of the 29-year-old TikToker was discovered in vineyards at Saint-Gilles on 12 August. A 32-year-old man has been charged with murder and remanded in custody.
Charred body in Gard vineyards: what we know about Sonia Bellina's death
On 12 August, an agricultural worker discovered the "partially charred" body of a woman in vineyards at Saint-Gilles, a commune in the Gard department located around twenty kilometres from Nîmes. According to France Info, the Nîmes prosecutor's office opened a murder investigation immediately following initial findings. A week later, on 19 August, Nîmes prosecutor Cécile Gensac confirmed that the victim was Sonia Bellina, a 29-year-old influencer followed by over 250,000 subscribers on TikTok.
Discovery of the body
It was whilst heading to work in the vineyards that the worker made the grim discovery. "When he arrived at the plot, he saw the body, there were still wisps of smoke above the body, the fire must have been set not long before," a witness told Midi Libre. Burnt vine leaves and ash remained visible on the ground several days after the discovery.
Identification via DNA
Early rumours about the victim's identity circulated rapidly on social media, fuelled in particular by public statements from her family. The woman who identifies herself as Sonia Bellina's elder sister claimed, in a video published by Midi Libre, to have had no news of the influencer "since 10 August". Official identification was established on Wednesday 19 August by DNA testing, allowing the prosecutor to "confirm that the identity of the person found dead and partially charred (...) is indeed that of the 29-year-old social media influencer".
Victim's profile
Originally from the Nîmes region, Sonia Bellina lived in Paris, where she had launched herself on social media, alternating between humorous videos and fashion and beauty advice. She visited "regularly" to see her mother in Nîmes, according to her sister's statements on TikTok. At the time of her disappearance, "she had been there for a month," her sister added.
Two men arrested
On Wednesday 19 August, investigators from the search section of the Nîmes gendarmerie arrested two men and placed them in police custody, "on the basis of evidence suggesting their participation in the facts, directly or indirectly," according to the prosecutor. A source close to the investigation tells France Info that the two individuals are in their thirties. One of them, already known for violence and weapons offences, is suspected of having been the influencer's last contact during the night in question. Investigators had also been interested for several days in a suspicious vehicle reported in the area that evening.
During a search of one of the suspects' homes, aged 26, a sawn-off shotgun and around thirty cartridges of 12-calibre ammunition were seized, France Info and France Télévisions learnt from sources close to the case.
One released, the other charged
The first man's custody was lifted on Thursday "late in the afternoon". The prosecutor specified that "the investigation elements did not make it possible, at this stage, to establish his participation in the course of events". The weapon discovered at his home "has no connection to the course of events, and is the subject of a separate procedure," the prosecutor added.
On Friday, the second suspect, aged 32, was charged with "murder" and remanded in custody. According to prosecutor Gensac, he is "accused of having had contact with the victim (...) a short time before the events". According to the prosecutor, "various elements could suggest that he was her last contact, in the context of a meeting in the capacity of an escort girl by appointment on the night in question, after a first contact the previous night". The accused admitted to "having had a relationship on the night in question and the previous night with the victim," but refused "to provide further explanations during subsequent police custody interviews".
A heavily chequered criminal record
The man in his thirties has a "heavily chequered criminal record since 2010, for violent behaviour and matters linked to drugs in particular," according to the Nîmes prosecutor's office. At the end of 2023, he had been convicted of domestic violence in the North, which, at the time of the events, meant he was wearing an anti-approach bracelet designed to protect his ex-partner living 800 kilometres away.
The family speaks out
Since Sonia Bellina's disappearance, her relatives have spoken to the media and on social media. The woman who identifies herself as her elder sister told Midi Libre that the influencer "ran into the wrong guy at the wrong time". The investigation continues under the authority of the Nîmes prosecutor's office.
Source: France Info