A 15-year-old mystery that baffled a small village in eastern France may finally be solved after new homeowners discovered the body of a man who disappeared a decade ago.

While renovating their recently purchased home in Erstroff, a village near the German border, the homeowners discovered the remains of Aloïs Iffly, who disappeared in 2009 at the age of 81.

Local prosecutor Olivier Glady confirmed the identity on November 4, stating that the incident indicated a suicide.

A rope was still hanging in the attic where Iffly’s body was found on Nov. 2.

The previous owner’s wife continued to live in the house until her death in 2020, apparently unaware of her husband’s remains in the attic.

A 15-year-old mystery that baffled a small village in eastern France may finally be solved after new homeowners discovered the body of a man who disappeared more than a decade ago (image: Erstroff, eastern France)

While renovating their recently purchased home in Erstroff, a village near the German border, the homeowners discovered the remains of Aloïs Iffly, who disappeared in 2009 (stock image)

The sale of the house in 2023 led the new owners to begin a series of renovations and repairs.

According to Glady, during their efforts to find the source of the roof leak, the homeowners found Iffly’s ‘skeletal remains’ trapped inside a cubicle.

regional newspaper Le Republicain LorrainThe person who first reported the discovery described extensive but unsuccessful efforts to locate Iffly after her disappearance.

By sending the remains to Strasbourg for autopsy, authorities hope to confirm the cause of death and potentially close one of the region’s longest-running mysteries.

It comes after a man who disappeared nearly 30 years ago after being allegedly kidnapped when he was 17 was found alive in a hole in the ground at his neighbour’s house, under haystacks of a sheep pen.

The person, called Omar Bin Umran (or Imran) and said to be one of nine children, is thought to have disappeared 27 years ago in the city of Celfa, Algeria.

His family assumed he was killed during a 10-year civil war between the North African country’s government and various Islamist rebel groups in the 1990s and early 2000s.

With the remains sent to Strasbourg for autopsy, authorities hope to confirm the cause of death and potentially put an end to one of the region’s longest-running mysteries (image: Erstroff, eastern France)

The truth was much closer: The missing man was found at his neighbor’s house, less than 200 meters from his family’s home.

A 61-year-old man was arrested after Omar, now 45, was rescued on May 12.

Footage of the moment she was found in her alleged kidnapper’s home, in what appeared to be a hole in what authorities described as a sheep pen, was shared on social media and broadcast on Algerian television networks.

In the blurry video, torch lights can be seen shining in a pit surrounded by straw as Omar surreptitiously looks up to the search team, who surrounds him with stray bits of straw in his hair.

Other images of the bearded man emerging from a hole in what was thought to be a sheep pen and his youth sitting with a dog and young children before disappearing have since circulated.