Body of Missing French Woman Found; Partner Arrested in Suspected Murder Case

The main suspect in Aurélie Vaquier’s death is Samire L., a 39-year-old Moroccan. After his partner’s disappearance, he said he did not know where she was. "On January 28, she left me a message, she told me she was fed up, that she wanted to go write a book. I said to myself: ’I’m going to leave her alone’ [...]. After, I called, called, called, but she didn’t answer," he said in an interview with Midi Libre. This man in the process of divorcing another woman with whom he has two children has part of his family in Tangier.

Samire L. has several lives. A wrestler, he holds a national junior 76 kg title. He did military service but was convicted in 2007 in Marseille for desertion. In 2017 and 2019, he had been convicted for traffic offenses and thefts. At the time, he was working in Switzerland. In Gex (Ain), he created a company that is involved in the retail food trade sector. This is what was known about the thirty-year-old before he was suspected of murdering his partner. His relatives did not know him for acts of violence.

Mélanie, a very close friend of the deceased, recounts how Aurélie and Samire met. "When he saw Aurélie’s ad renting a room in her former home in Villeveyrac, he responded and that’s how they met," she says. They move in together in a house in Bédarieux. "Aurélie was in love, we, Samire, we didn’t know him more than that. When he saw us, he was very helpful and reserved. Without knowing the person, we say that he is devoted, helpful," testifies Lily, Aurélie’s best friend.

However, Samire once showed another side of himself in a provocative video posted in November 2020. While he was in a supermarket, he denounced the impossibility of buying beers just after 6 p.m. "This video does not fit the character at all," confirms Lily. "He (Samire) told me about his family in Morocco, his eight or nine years in the army. I helped him with the work in their house in Bédarieux, he told me he had worked in construction with his father... I had brought him tools... To think that it’s maybe with that he killed my sister..." confides Jérémy Vaquier, the victim’s brother.