French police consider homophobic motive after four bodies found in river
This photograph taken in Choisy-le-Roi, on the outskirts of Paris, on 14 August, 2025 shows the Seine river where firefighters were called to pulled out four men’s bodies from the river on 13 August, 2025. (BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images)
This photograph taken in Choisy-le-Roi, on the outskirts of Paris, on 14 August, 2025 shows the Seine river where firefighters were called to pulled out four men's bodies from the river on 13 August, 2025. (BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images)
Police are considering a potential homophobic motive after the bodies of four men were found in the River Seine, on the outskirts of Paris.
The body of the first victim, later identified as a local 48-year-old man, was spotted by a passer-by near a bridge in Choisy-le-Roi, a south-eastern suburb of the capital, on 13 August.
Later that day, police searching the area discovered the other bodies immersed nearby, the BBC reported. Prosecutors said all three were found in “a very advanced state of decomposition”.
The bodies were pulled from the river near a spot known as a meeting place for gay men. One of them has been identified as Franz, a 48-year-old resident of Créteil, another suburb of Paris, whom investigators determined was gay. He had been missing since 11 August.
Le Monde reported a suspect was charged with “multiple murders” on Sunday (24 August). He is a homeless 24-year-old Algerian named Ahmed, the paper said.
According to The Times, the other victims have been identified as Sami, a 21-year-old Algerian reported missing on 7 August by his estranged wife, Abdellah, also 21, who vanished on 26 July, and Amir, a 26-year-old Tunisian who had not been seen since 31 July.
One victim was said to have been found with the lower half of his body “undressed”, another’s trousers were reportedly “lowered to the ankles”.
