Mother’s 12-Year Search Uncovers Truth Behind Teen Son’s Disappearance

The story goes back to 2007 when Bennani Thami, then 17 years old, had accompanied his friends on a car trip to Paloma beach, on the outskirts of Casablanca.

Celebrating a friend’s birthday, they had apparently spent a drunken night where alcohol and cannabis resin had taken their toll. An overdose had contributed to the young Thami’s death.

Not knowing what to do, the young men had decided to get rid of the victim’s body by burying it in an agricultural field far from the beach, and promising to keep it a secret.

20 days later, the remains were discovered by the farmer plowing his land and transported to the Forensic Medical Center for an autopsy. The coroner’s findings confirmed the death by overdose.

The body had been placed in the morgue as an unidentified person, before being buried a few years later, on the orders of the King’s Prosecutor.

The investigation by the Judicial Police led, 12 years later, to a homicide. Summoned, the mother quickly recognized her son’s clothes and the photos taken before his burial.

The young man’s broken teeth suggested the scenario of a fight with one of his friends. They were arrested and incarcerated in the Oukacha prison, pending the completion of the investigation.

In parallel, an investigation was opened by the National Brigade of the Judicial Police with the former officials, to determine the reasons for the failure to summon the parents upon the discovery of the remains, especially since the comparison with the missing persons reports is a standard procedure.