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French detectives seek vehicle in Alps murder investigation

Officers release image of dark-coloured 4x4 they want to trace in connection with murder last September of engineer Saad al-Hilli and three others.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Detectives investigating the murders of a British family gunned down on holiday in the French Alps have released an image of a vehicle seen close to the scene just before the deaths, reports The Guardian.

Nobody has yet been held responsible for the deaths of Iraqi-born engineer Saad al-Hilli, his wife, mother-in-law and a French cyclist.

Officers are keen to speak to the owner of a right-hand-drive 4x4 vehicle that was being driven on the Combre d'Ire Road, Chevaline, at around 3.20pm on 5 September.

The bodies of engineer Mr Hilli, 50, of Claygate, Surrey, and his dentist wife Iqbal, 47, were found brutally murdered a short time later, along with her mother Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, and cyclist Sylvain Mollier, 45.

The Hillis' four-year-old daughter Zeena lay undiscovered under her mother's corpse for eight hours after the shooting, while her seven-year-old sister Zainab was found with serious injures after being shot and beaten. The investigation featured on BBC Crimewatch.

Detective Superintendent Nick May said: "I am appealing for anyone with a right-hand-drive 4X4, particularly a grey, black or dark-coloured BMW X5, to cast their minds back to September last year. Were you on holiday in the French Alps at the time? Did you visit the Annecy area?

"I am particularly keen to speak to any owner of such a vehicle who visited the towns of Doussard or Chevaline on the afternoon of 5 September as they may be able to provide vital information to assist with this ongoing joint investigation."

Read more of this report from The Guardian.