Two teenagers were reportedly abducted, stabbed, and coerced to dig their own graves in a forest during a harrowing incident possibly related to drug-related conflicts, as per police investigations.
The victims, aged 14 and 16, were taken on the evening of January 2 from a hotel parking lot in Carquefou, a suburb near Nantes, by several masked individuals. Eyewitnesses observed the teenagers being forced into a vehicle. Despite a quick response by authorities, the teenagers and the car were nowhere to be found.
Around 3:00 am, a resident in La Chapelle-sur-Erdre, approximately ten kilometers away, discovered the injured boys at his doorstep. Both teenagers appeared battered, with bloodied faces, cut fingers, and evident signs of trauma.
One of the teenagers had sustained a stab wound on his thigh. The resident promptly contacted the authorities and administered initial aid. Subsequently, the victims were taken to Nantes University Hospital for medical attention.
Based on their accounts to investigators, the teenagers were driven to a nearby forest, confined in a car trunk, and subjected to severe physical abuse. The perpetrators stripped them, physically assaulted them, and made death threats.
Allegedly, a firearm was held to their heads, and they were compelled to dig a hole with their hands, potentially intended as their gravesite. Authorities later located the described site, recovering the teenagers’ discarded clothes and the dug-out pit.
Antoine Leroy, the Nantes public prosecutor, verified the initiation of an inquiry into charges of kidnapping, false imprisonment, and violent acts.
Local criminal investigation department officers suspect the assault could be linked to settling drug-related disputes, likely stemming from clashes among traffickers over territory.
The younger teenager, originally from Angers, had reportedly been evading capture for several months prior to the abduction. Both victims have provided statements to the authorities, although they appeared hesitant to divulge specific details about the incident.
The investigation is presently overseen by the gendarmes of Nantes’ research brigade. Prosecutor Leroy noted progress in identifying the perpetrators of the violent abduction but confirmed no arrests have been made at this point.