The body of the young Baptiste, 17, who had disappeared on December 2 in Pontarlier, was recovered from the Doubs river on December 24, in the afternoon,
the public prosecutor of Besançon Étienne
told
Figaro.
Coats, confirming information from
the Republican East
.
Investigators were able to locate the teenager thanks to a report of passers-by who, with the lowering of the current, noticed a shoe floating on the surface of the water.
A probable accidental fall
While, Thursday, December 2, the teenager left class at 4 p.m. sharp, he went to a cafe with three of his classmates.
Accompanied by one of his friends, he later went to a store to buy alcohol.
To investigators, the latter said he was "
very surprised to see that Baptiste had drunk half the bottle
", notes Étienne Manteaux.
This friend being an intern at the high school where the two boys were educated, he finally returned to his establishment while Baptiste, himself, remained outside.
According to the track followed by the Saint-Hubert dog mobilized for the search, the young man would then have gone to a bridge, on the banks of the Doubs.
It was finally 20 meters downstream that his body was found.
Read alsoVar: the body of a young man who disappeared in 2008 found 13 years later
Asked whether investigations had already been carried out in the river, the prosecutor explains that, at the beginning of December, "
very significant precipitation
" had taken place in the Doubs, making the search for divers "
extremely complicated
" and the discovery of a body, impossible.
An autopsy will be carried out on Tuesday, December 28 “in
order to shed all possible light
” on this tragedy, which does not report any witnesses for the moment.
However, "
in view of the high alcoholism
" of the teenager, according to the prosecutor of Besançon, the investigators favor the track of an accidental fall.