Police in southeastern France are checking whether there may be a link between numerous unresolved cases of murder and missing people
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The arrest of a man on suspicion of murder in southeastern France has led police to reopen numerous cases of murder and missing people to see if they may be linked.
34-year-old ex-soldier Nordahl Lelandais is in prison, a formal suspect in the disappearance of a nine-year-old girl from a wedding in Isere in August and the death of a young soldier in nearby Chambery in April.
Investigators allege there is evidence that links the suspect to the two crime scenes; he denies any involvement.
Now police say they are checking other unresolved cases in the region around nearby Lake Annecy: a young Belgian man who disappeared in July and two men who went missing in 2011 and 2012.
There is also the murder of four people in Chevaline: three members of a British family and a cyclist who were shot dead in a forest.
The father of a little girl who disappeared in 2003 in the Marne region in the north of France is also calling on police to check whether that case may be linked, as the arrested ex-soldier used to serve in that region.