MYSTERY surrounds the disappearance of a French expat who vanished from Marbella in December last year.
The alarm was first raised when the family of the 32-year-old found his car unlocked, with the windows down and keys in the ignition in Cabopino.
The vehicle was discovered on December 15 near a home he often visited in the Artola Alta urbanisation. His family had not heard from him since a phone call two days prior.
A suspicious Mercedes with false licence plates was discovered in a parking lot nearby, which police have linked to the case.
The investigation has been taken over by the Udyco force, which specialises in drug-related and organised crime.
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There have yet to be any arrests, judicial sources told La Opinion de Malaga.
Sources added that the Frenchman, of Algerian origin and who lived in La Cala de Mijas, had been seen ‘accompanied’ by people in the Marques de Guadalmina urbanisation in Estepona after he lost contact with his family.
His worried relatives have also reported him missing to the authorities in France.
The case bears a resemblance to the disappearance of a Dutch citizen in 2020, who was kidnapped from his car in Marbella and never seen again.
Jamal was snatched out of his SUV in front of his wife on the night of August 22 that year.
The kidnappers were armed and posing as police officers. They bundled him into their car and disappeared. He has not been heard from or seen since.