Disappearance of Ophélie Bretnacher

Ophélie Bretnacher disappeared in Budapest, Hungary on December 4, 2008. She was part of a European exchange program called Erasmus Programme.[1] City CCTV cameras were able to track part of her route, determining that she left a nightclub called Portside of Cuba. The footage shows her walking, alone, from Dohány Street to Deák Square, up to the Széchenyi Chain Bridge and across the Danube.[2] The CCTV footage has since been uploaded to YouTube.[3]

Investigations revealed that she left Portside of Cuba, the nightclub, after having celebrated Saint Nicholas Day with friends. She was walking in the direction of her home. It is not known if she had planned to take a bus or catch a taxi. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, among other personal belongings, was found later that evening on the Széchenyi Chain Bridge by two Italian students. Her closest friends and her host family, concerned for her whereabouts, contacted her family the following day.

Friends and family members made many attempts to locate her.[4][5] An official investigation was opened in Hungary, followed shortly afterwards by one in France. Two months later, in February 2009, her body was discovered in Csepel, an island on the Danube.

After the discovery of her body, Hungarian authorities assigned a seven-member police team to investigate the case.[2] The police said that death was probably the result of a suicide or accident.[6] However, homicide was also possible[7] because of the finding of a hematoma on Ophelie's body as well as many gray areas during the search.[8] One of the puzzles, for instance, was that her body was found upstream. [9]

In February 2010, her family filed a new claim for murder.[10][11][12][13]

In March 2010, a judicial inquiry was opened in Paris for kidnapping, sequestration, followed by murder.[14] By 2014, authorities in Hungary were prepared to close the case, considering the investigation deadline was set to expire in February of that year.[15] New information reportedly surfaced, prompting the Budapest prosecutor's office to continue the inquiry. Sources say that investigation resumed due to inconsistencies in the testimonies of the interrogated witnesses.[15]

The Hungarian investigation was closed in 2014.[16]

While Hungarian police concluded that the case could either be a suicide or accidental drowning, in France, there was a public clamor for a more thorough investigation. An online petition has been signed by over 10,000 people and was sent to the French President.[17] By 11 January 2009 several hundred people marched silently in a white march, from the Champ-de-Mars, near the Eiffel Tower, to seek the involvement of the French authorities.[18]

French politicians also expressed interest such as Catherine Vautrin, the Vice-Président of the National Assembly, who called for a French intervention[19][20][21] Following this intervention, French investigators were sent for the second time to Hungary.[22]

• 11/01/2009 Manifestation Film To ask more collaboration between french and hungarian police - AFP document
• Ophélie Bretnacher, pour la vérité sur ton départ si précipité - All the vidéos (en: Update on the investigation) and other articles

• List of people who disappeared mysteriously
• Missing person