Tom T. has been heard since Tuesday morning after being arrested in Vendée. According to information from franceinfo, his home was searched. This young man confided in France Bleu Poitou during a hunt organized by the family.
He is the one who was to host the couple on the evening of the disappearance in Deux-Sèvres last November. A man in his twenties, Tom T. was taken into police custody on Tuesday February 28 by investigators from the Poitiers research section, franceinfo learned from the Poitiers prosecutor’s office. He was arrested in L’Aiguillon-sur-Mer (Vendée). He is a friend of the young couple.
>> After the disappearance of Leslie and Kevin, their relatives do not believe in an “improbable” runaway
According to information from franceinfo, the home where he was was searched. Tom T. is now heard in police custody by investigators who have been trying since the beginning of this case to reconstruct the couple’s evening this Saturday evening, three months ago. Leslie Hoorelbeke, 22, and Kevin Trompat, 21, have not been seen since November 26, 2022.
He participated in a hunt organized by the family
On January 5, Tom T. confided in France Bleu Poitou during a hunt organized by the family of Kevin Trompat, in which he had participated. He had assured not to have seen his two friends after 5:30 p.m., the day of their disappearance. The couple then had to sleep at home in his absence because he attended several parties and explained that he only returned on Sunday. This alibi did visibly not completely convinced the gendarmes.
Concretely, according to the explanations that the relatives of the couple gave to the investigators, Kevin and Leslie dropped off some belongings and their dog at Tom T. in Prahecq (Deux-Sèvres). ATnearly have “talked about everyday life” with Leslie and Kevin “[ses] friends”, Tom T. had left them early Friday evening. The young couple was invited to a party at a neighbor’s house that they “didn’t really know”. On his side, Tom T. says he joined a techno party at La Crèche (Deux-Sèvres), about fifteen kilometers north of Prahecq, then went to another party in Parthenay, further north of the department.
“We all have good associates and bad associates.”
Tom T., the man arrested in the investigation into the disappearance of Kevin and Leslieon France Bleu Poitou on January 5th
After spending the night at the techno party, Tom. T. says he only went home on Sunday, without seeing Kevin and Leslie at his home. When the reporter for France Bleu Poitou asked him if he knew if the couple had gone to his house after their evening a few steps from his home, Tom T. replied: “I have no idea, I’m waiting for the answers of the gendarmerie”.
The gendarmes considered the hypothesis of a voluntary disappearance before heading since mid-January towards the trail of a criminal act. Very quickly, the couple’s two cars were found several hundred kilometers apart. A few weeks later, the belongings of the 22-year-old young woman and her 21-year-old boyfriend are discovered nearly 100 km from the place of their disappearance: Kevin’s driver’s license and other objects , hidden in a clothing recycling container. A complicated puzzle for investigators to put together with clues spread over several departments.
Nearly 120 people were heard
An investigation for “kidnapping or kidnapping” has been opened by the Poitiers prosecutor’s office since the beginning of January. The investigations are led by the research section of the Poitiers gendarmerie. Ten gendarmes are working full time on this case and nearly 120 people have been heard and a great deal of research has been carried out. Samples were taken from several vehicles or in different locations. The soldiers combed two areas in addition to the two hunts organized by the family. Three water points were also surveyed by divers.
A call for witnesses was also launched with dozens of checks made all over France as and when the almost daily calls received by the gendarmes. Witnesses think they saw the couple as far away as Portugal. All-out searches which, for the moment, have not made it possible to find the trace of the two missing persons.
For Leslie’s father, Patrick, and her stepmother, Émilie, the news of this police custody is “a relief”. “We see concretely the police investigation which is progressing, it is very important for us“, they told France Bleu La Rochelle.