The Dupont de Ligonnès Case

The Dupont de Ligonnès Case ranks 5th in the list of Eerie Mysteries That Still Haunt France. In April 2011, the bodies of the Dupont de Ligonnès family were discovered buried in the grounds of their home in Nantes, committing one of the most terrible and shocking crimes in contemporary French history. Agnès Dupont de Ligonnès and her four children had been shot in the back of the head with a.22 long rifle, but the family's head, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, was gone.

Obviously, he became the major suspect in the murders, and as the inquiry progressed, more evidence was discovered against him. Dupont de Ligonnès had inherited a.22 rifle from his father and traveled to shooting ranges to learn how to use it in the months leading up to the atrocities. He also purchased other dubious items, including bags of chalk lime and cement, ammunition, rubbish bags, a spade, and a trolley. Finally, he wrote to his children's schools to inform them that the family was relocating to Australia, so that they would not be suspicious if the children did not show up for class.

All clues pointed to Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès carrying out his family's killings on purpose. But by the time the police discovered their dead a few weeks later, Xavier had become a ghost. Despite leaving a clear trail as he journeyed to the southwest of France, he simply vanished once he arrived at the commune of Roquebrune-sur-Argens. Some assumed he committed suicide in the neighboring mountains, but after an exhaustive search, no corpse was ever recovered.

Informations about Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès
Born: 9 January 1961, Versailles, Yvelines, France
Disappeared: 15 April 2011 (aged 50)Roquebrune-sur-Argens, Var, France