On Tuesday May 28, Lina’s mother, Fanny Groll, participated in the program “Call for witnesses”, broadcast on M6 and presented by Julien Courbet. Thanks to the audience of this program dedicated to disappearances and unsolved French criminal cases, it was able to reach many viewers.
“My name is Fanny, I am the mother of Lina, 15 years old, who was kidnapped and who has disappeared since September 23, 2023,” she explains in an emotional tone. Fanny Groll holds a photo of her daughter in her hands during her cry for help. “I am here today to ask for help from you, from everyone who has heard something, from everyone who has perhaps seen or knows things that they do not dare to say […] ] If you know anything, you have to say it.”
During the show, many viewers contacted the channel. According to information from La Voix du Nord quoting Le Parisien, “Call for witnesses” was watched by 1.6 million viewers. In total, more than 400 calls and 200 emails were received during the evening.
The testimonies were then verified by journalists but also by investigators from the ARPD (the Assistance and Search for Missing Persons association). In partnership with the Ministry of Justice, these testimonies can be provided by spectators via a Freephone Number or they can testify anonymously on the channel (0 800 10 11 21 [email protected]).
One of the testimonies provided strangely coincides with the disappearance of the teenager. “We have a business manager in the region who tells us that he has not had any news from one of his employees since the month of Lina’s disappearance,” reveals a speaker, who indicates that he knows this individual, without revealing his identity publicly.
This man would have disappeared “after 12 years of indefinite contract”, he also lived “very close to Lina’s house”. A testimony of which Fanny Groll had not been aware until now. This new lead will be “given to the police “, we learn in the show.
The day after the show, Audrey Goutard, senior reporter at France Télévisions, highlighted a new theory in the disappearance of Lina, in C dans l’air. According to information from the specialist in social facts, one of the avenues considered by investigators would be his involvement in a prostitution network.
“You should know that today the number of worrying disappearances, particularly of young girls, is exploding. Why? Because through social networks, these young girls meet men, they think they are dealing with guys friendly, and end up in prostitution networks I’m not saying that’s what happened to Lina, nevertheless it’s one of the investigators’ leads,” she says.
Would Lina have been involved in a network in spite of herself? “We are in a current atmosphere where you have more and more, via social networks, young girls who find themselves caught up in dirty stories,” laments Audrey Goutard.
According to figures, in France, between 7,000 and 10,000 minors are involved in prostitution each year. This phenomenon of child prostitution mainly affects young girls, aged 15 to 17, “with an entry point into prostitution that is increasingly early, between 14 and 15 years old for more than half of them,” the government specifies.
Since then, several police custody have already taken place as part of the investigation opened for kidnapping and sequestration. Unfortunately, they were all lifted for lack of “incriminating evidence”.
The investigation is still ongoing and the slightest clue or testimony could advance the investigation.
