Unsolved Mystery of Murder and Disappearance

2021-01-30 16:41:35 Written by Zaryab Wasli

◾Man Vanished After His Family Was Found Murdered And Buried Under The Patio

On April the 24th neighbours and friends of the de Ligonnès family realized they were missing, they called police. The family's corpses were found under the patio in the backyard. They were wrapped in quicklime—which speeds deterioration and masks smell—wrapped in burlap sacks, and buried under cement. They recognized the corpses of the de Ligonnès family, which included Agnès, 49, Arthur, 21, Thomas, 18, Anne, 16, Benoit, 13, and the two family Labradors. Autopsies disclosed that they were drugged and shot with a .22 long rifle while they slept.

Authorities opened an investigation and rapidly found that Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, the husband and father of the family, made very sceptical purchases in the weeks prior, which comprised cement, burlap sacks, quicklime, and shovels. The father, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, entirely vanished from public view a week before and was almost instantly named as the main suspect and main witness for the murders. And because Xavier is still at large, his family’s killing stays open and contributes to the rising number of unsolved murders and killers who were never caught. Just where is Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès? 

 

▪️The Family Members Were Likely Murdered On Different Days

 

On Sunday, April 3rd, the family and all the children except Thomas were sighted at dinner and a movie theatre in Nantes. The next day, April 4th, Anne and Benoît did not show up for school "due to illness." Xavier was sighted eating dinner with his son Thomas on the same day. A waiter recalls that Thomas felt sick toward the end of the dinner and recalls that the pair didn't speak much to one another. Investigators believe that Xavier killed his wife, Arthur, Anne, and Benoît on the evening of April 3rd or 4th and Thomas on April 5th. During the week, neighbours reported hearing the family's dogs howling for two consecutive nights, and then they never heard them again.

 

▪️Xavier Sent The Press A Photo Of His Sons With A Message That He's Still Alive

 

In July of 2015, Xavier sent a family photo featuring his two sons sitting at a table to Agence France-Presse with a message on the back, which reads "I am still alive. From then until this hour." AFP shortly gave the picture to authorities, who conducted DNA and handwriting analysis.

 

▪️Wife Agnès’ Time Of Death Is Highly Disputed

 

There is no peace on when Agnès, the wife and mother of the Ligonnès family, actually perished. The police officially announced that her death happened on April 3rd or 4th, nonetheless, a neighbour of the de Ligonnès family says he saw Agnès walking their dogs on the 5th and 7th of April. The neighbour remembers not having much time to talk with her because she picked up her son from the nanny every Thursday evening. Also, a salon worker claims to have seen Agnès on the 5th sitting on the sidewalk, looking at her phone. A saleswoman also thinks she saw Agnès on the 7th in her shop.

 

▪️Xavier Possibly Sent Strange Text Messages From His Son's Phone

 

Thomas was presumed to sleepover at his friend Mathias's house the evening of his demise. He received a call around 7 pm that his mother was in a cycling accident and that he should head home from his friend's. When Mathias reached out the next day, he received weird messages from Thomas, which read, "I'm not coming to yours. I'm ill," and "Really ill, I'm not coming to class." Two days later, Mathias received a text that said, "I'm out of battery, my dad's looking for a new charger for me."

 

▪️Xavier Sent Out Letters To Explain The Family’s Sudden Disappearance

 

On April 11, a letter arrived at the children’s school clarifying their mysterious departure. Xavier said there was an immediate professional change, and the family had to move to Australia. Agnès’s place of job received an identical letter, which included her resignation. On that same day, Xavier sent another letter to his immediate family, and its subjects were markedly different. It stated that he was working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency on a case, and he had to enter the Witness Protection Program. It stated that he wouldn't be allowed to reach out to anyone while in the program for both his and their safety.

▪️A Psychologist Analyzed Xavier’s Letter To His Immediate Family

 

A criminal psychologist reviewed Xavier’s letter and made various significant observations. For example, instead of "I" Xavier used “we," whose usage is compatible with group suicides and family drama. He also pointed out that there was a lack of empathy towards his extended family—in the letter, he gave them instructions but didn’t ascertain regret or sadness regarding the end of their contact. The only feeling Xavier revealed in his letter was directed toward the two Labradors, with whom he expressed regret in separating.

 

Most interestingly, the letter takes on a very formal stance, identical to the last will. In it, Xavier is very obvious on who should get his family’s belongings. Xavier notes that when his relatives come to take said belongings, that they should leave the items under the patio alone. The patio, of course, is the area where the family’s corpses were found.

 

▪️Xavier’s Businesses Were Failing And The Family Was In Debt

 

Xavier was a businessman who owned a handful of investments, all of which met some measure of success over the years. Nonetheless, by 2011, the de Ligonnès's finances were looking pretty awful; his businesses were failing, and the family had accrued a debt of $60,000. Their earnings were less than ten per cent of that the year prior. In fact, within a day of his family’s killing, a creditor stopped by their house to collect a $30,000 debt. The family's economic problems were not a secret—his immediate family helped bail him out, land Xavier received a $73,000 loan from one of his mistresses in 2009.

 

▪️Xavier Potentially Used Offshore Accounts And Anonymous Banking To Disappear

 

In 1998, Xavier started a business in the United States. It was the first time he worked on foreign soil, so he reached his friend and fellow business owner, Gerald Corona, to help him govern international finances through a company called Strategy Netcom. The service assisted businesses like Xavier’s gain a foothold in America. The company specialized in setting up offshore tax havens and used a banking system that anonymized purchases and transactions to keep financial activities hidden from levering eyes. Authorities believed that Xavier used services like these to keep his financial activities under wraps when he went on the run after killing his family.

 

▪️The Prosecutor In Charge Of The Case Believes Xavier Committed Suicide

 

In 2013, there was a large manhunt in Massif des Maures for Xavier's corpse after the prosecution was sure that Xavier committed suicide. Authorities greatly searched Massif des Maures, a huge cave system in France, due to its vicinity to Xavier’s last known whereabouts. Nonetheless, their search turned up nothing. After years of inquiries and several purported sightings, the leading prosecutor of the case inferred that Xavier committed suicide long ago. They think that the finding of his body is simply a matter of time. Should they find Xavier’s body, he will automatically be found guilty, allowing them to close the case.

 

▪️Police Believed Xavier Was Hiding At A Monastery

 

Xavier was sighted leaving a budget hotel in 2011 in Cannes, so when someone reported seeing de Ligonnès at a nearby monastery in 2018, police took the sighting seriously. The police who raided the monastery found that the monks had taken a vow of silence, and the lack of communication rapidly became a barrier to the investigation. They ultimately found who they were looking for; however, but the monk in question wasn’t Xavier at all—he just looked strikingly identical.

 

▪️Xavier’s Mother And Sister Don’t Believe The Family Is Dead

Despite all the indication against him as well as the police's assertion that Xavier was the most likely suspect in the murders, his immediate family just doesn't accept it. For example, the autopsy happened quickly, and the family members on Xavier's side cite inconsistencies in identification. Also, they pointed out that because of Xavier's back problems, digging a space beneath the patio would have proved difficult and that the cement was still wet, despite Xavier being gone for a week. Christine Dupont de Ligonnès, Xavier’s sister, even started a blog that lists the case's discrepancies and asserts Xavier’s innocence.