Var: Polynesian family detained in suspected murder of two overseas military personnel
Five members of the same household were charged in late May in the case of the disappearance of two young military personnel from the Pacific, which occurred in 2022 and 2023 in the Var department.
Var: Polynesian family detained in suspected murder of two overseas military personnel
Five members of the same household were charged in late May in the case of the disappearance of two young military personnel from the Pacific, which occurred in 2022 and 2023 in the Var department. Magistrate Raphaël Balland, public prosecutor in Toulon, provided these details on Wednesday 1 July.
The first missing military personnel was a sailor born in 1997 in Nouméa. His family had heard nothing from him since May 2022, following his departure from New Caledonia to begin training at Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer. The second, born in 1988 in Papeete, had been declared a deserter from the Foreign Legion in May 2023, although he had renewed his contract shortly before.
The investigation converged on a Polynesian family living in the Var, comprising the parental couple, two boys and two girls. Police established that both missing persons had stayed with them. Furthermore, seven other young recruits from overseas, housed by this same family between 2011 and 2023, reported having been gradually deprived of their bank cards and documents, then assaulted and held against their will.
On 26 May 2026, all six members of the household were taken into police custody for four days, under procedures applicable to organised crime. The criminal investigation was reinforced by several pieces of evidence, including the discovery, at two different locations in Bouches-du-Rhône, of bone remains that could belong to the two men. Forensic examinations are underway to formally identify them.
Three days later, the couple, their two sons and one of their daughters were remanded in custody for human trafficking and unlawful detention as a group. The mother and the two boys are also facing charges of double murder. The younger daughter was prosecuted for failure to report offences and placed under judicial supervision.
Source: franceinfo
Source: France Info