Aged about forty, the man taken into custody on Tuesday, who is said to be close to the 18-year-old young woman, is unfavorably known to the police and the justice system.
The case took a new turn. Tuesday afternoon, a man and his ex-girlfriend were arrested and placed in police custody near Alès, in the Gard, in connection with the disappearance of Sihem Belouahmia, this 18-year-old young woman who has not given no sign of life since January 25 to his family.
A dozen mentions in the criminal record
As BFMTV learned from concordant sources, the man arrested was heard at the end of last week, as a witness, by the gendarmes in charge of the investigation, who favor the criminal track.
For lack of evidence, this man in his forties close to Sihem Belouahmia was released, but remained in the sights of the authorities who suspect him of being at the origin of the kidnapping. His home was searched by the gendarmes in search of material elements.
According to these same sources, the suspect lives in the region, between Nîmes and Alès. He is very unfavorably known to the police and justice services and has thirteen entries in his criminal record between 2001 and 2015, mainly for aggravated theft. Chance of the calendar, he was to appear this Wednesday before the Gard assizes for acts of “home jacking.” The trial will be adjourned to a later date.
The forties had also been sentenced in 2015 to twelve years in prison for acts dating back to 2012. That year, he was accused of robberies in an organized gang with two other accomplices. He has always denied the charges against him despite the heavy sentence.
The man has not yet been questioned on the merits of the case. On the other hand, BFMTV learned that the suspect answered Tuesday the questions that the investigators asked him.
Investigation for kidnapping and forcible confinement
Sihem Belouahmia has been missing for a week. On January 25, a friend dropped off the young woman at her father’s, rue d’Alger, in Grande-Combe. Her grandmother lives on the same street, a little further down, and Sihem goes to her house to spend the night there. Around midnight, the latter, who is then in bed, hears a door noise. The young girl left, leaving her things behind and the door ajar.
At first, the Alès prosecutor’s office opened an investigation for a worrying disappearance, before requalifying her for kidnapping and forcible confinement. The decision was taken after certain hearings and other acts of investigation.
Since the disappearance, significant resources have been deployed by the gendarmes: helicopters, dog teams with tracker dogs, criminal identification technicians. Without success. The authorities are also analyzing the young woman’s social networks. A call for witnesses has been launched on Facebook.
