Killer on the loose in the Riviera

Xavier Dupont de Ligonnés' whereabouts has been unknown since the 15th April

The prime suspect, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnés, 50, was last seen on the 15th April in a car park at a Formula 1 hotel in Roquebrune-sur-Argens in the Var, where he spent the night.

Police found his Citroen C5 car abandoned in a nearby car park six days later on 21st April. Officers in Fréjus have been studying CCTV footage from the parking lot after it was alleged that Dupont de Ligonnés stole registration plates from the site in a bid to hide any link between him and his vehicle.

Since then there have been unconfirmed sightings of Dupont de Ligonnés on Riviera, including one reported sighting in Nice last week, when he was spotted with a blonde female companion, driving a saloon car that had been registered in Hauts-de-Seine.

An international inquiry was launched on Tuesday amidst concern that the fugitive may have made his way out of the country, with a strong possibility that he could have escaped to Austria or Sweden.

Detectives have been studying his telephone usage, call history and his presence on internt forums in an attempt to track him down.

The bodies of Agnes Dupont de Ligonnés and her four children, Arthur, 20, Thomas, 18, Anne, 16,  and Benoît, 13, were discovered last Thursday at the family home in Nantes. They had each been shot, either in the head or the chest, with the same gun, a calibre that Xavier Dupont de Ligonnés was known to posses. Forensic pathologists have admitted that post mortem examinations on the bodies reveal a "methodical execution".

Dupont de Ligonnés reportedly met his second son, teenager Thomas, at a restaurant in Angers on the 4th April, which investigators believe to be the day after the other family members were killed.

Far from the quiet, middle class life he appeared to lead – with a house in the town centre, four cars and private schooling for his kids - a murky story has emerged concerning Dupont de Ligonnés’ private affairs.

On the surface the father of four presented himself as a businessman and to neighbours he worked in the tourist industry. Yet investigators have discovered that neither of the two companies that Dupont de Ligonnés claimed to run exists anymore and he is most likely beset by money problems. It is also said that the devout Catholic had a mistress living in the Val d’Oise department in Central France.

A former director of the police judiciaire in Paris told AFP that the authorities haven’t ruled out the possibility that Dupont de Ligonnés has taken his own life.

TD