Mysterious disappearance in 2004: Missing man’s wife charged after 19 years

A man detained in another case for the mysterious disappearance of his partner in Brittany in 2004 has been charged by the Nanterre court’s unsolved crimes section, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office said on Friday, AFP requested.

Confirming information from Ouest-France and Telegram, he was charged in the context of the opening of the judicial information “Death following the death of the kidnapped leader”.

Kaditja Bengrin, then 19, disappeared in the summer of 2004 from the accommodation she shared with the suspect in Quimperle, Finisterre.

“Specifically in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010 investigations were carried out at the request of his mother and were unsuccessful. A preliminary investigation opened by the Quimper prosecutor’s office was closed on July 5, 2013,” the Nanterre prosecutor’s office said.

According to the forensic evidence, the young woman gave no signs of living overnight.

On July 26, 2022, the Continuing or Unsolved Crimes Division took over the case and resumed the hearings as part of a new preliminary hearing.

“The reopening of the investigations was first directed towards new searches about Khaditja Pengrin, since her disappearance in the summer of 2004 no sign of life has been found in the national territory, nor has any correspondence with unidentified bodies been listed. Requests for information broadcast abroad have not been answered to date,” Nanterre indicated in the prosecution.

Her ex-husband was arrested on June 13 along with one of his ex-girlfriends. He was later charged and an affidavit was issued.

The man is currently serving sentence in another case.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison by the Finistère Assize Court in May 2022, according to the Quimper Prosecutor’s Office.

Asked about the disappearance of his ex-companion during this trial, the accused assured that the young lady had disappeared without giving any news, according to the same source.

“In recent days other investigations have been carried out, particularly to trace the missing person, but all have turned negative,” Nanterre’s Parquet site notes.