Australian woman, 59, is arrested in France and charged with kidnapping her 25-year-old boyfriend who mysteriously vanished from a hotel three years ago
- Samba Widhyastuti, 59, from Sydney, was arrested in Paris on November 28
- Her ex Florent Gregoire, who is 30 years her junior, has been missing since 2016
- The two met in France before travelling around Spain and Andorra that summer
- Gregoire is believed to have checked out of an Andorra hotel before vanishing
An Australian woman has been arrested in France over the disappearance of her 30-years-younger lover who has not been seen in three years.
Samba Widhyastuti, 59, was charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment after she was detained by French police at Charles de Gaulle airport last month.
The woman, who was a long-term Sydney resident, had been in a relationship with Florent Gregoire, from Nantes, who has been missing since 2016 when he was aged 25.
The young man was last seen checking out of The Roser Hotel in Andorra, where the couple were staying in September that year, and is now believed to be dead.
Sydney woman Samba Widhyastuti, 59, had been in a relationship with Florent Gregoire (pictured together right) from Nantes, who has been missing since 2016
Police allege Widhyastuti contacted his family to inform them he was fine and accuse her of posing as Gregoire in emails to them, News Corps Australia reported.
Gregoire is believed to have checked out of an Andorra hotel on September 12, 2016, never to be seen again
The pair had met in France, where Gregoire was working on a farm, before going on a months-long holiday around Spain and Andorra that summer.
On September 12, 2016, Gregoire checked out of the hotel with a bus ticket to Toulouse, France, but was never seen again.
It is not known if he boarded the bus.
His loved ones began to grow concerned after he failed to show up to a family wedding that month.
They finally travelled to Andorra in October to meet Widhyastuti, who allegedly told the family she returned to their hotel room one day to find Gregoire had left.
She also said she had found traces of blood in the sink – a claim hotel staff could not confirm.
The pair had met in France, where Gregoire was working on a farm, before going on a months-long holiday around Spain and Andorra that summer. Widhyastuti was charged with kidnapping and false imprisonment after she was detained by French police at Charles de Gaulle airport last month
A hotel manager told the publication the two appeared to be a ‘normal couple’ who were often seen going out in hiking gear.
‘The woman would talk to me using a translation app on her phone. But it was usually just to say hello or something like that. She spoke in English to the man,’ the manager said.
Police did not believe Widhyastuti was a suspect in the early stages of their investigation and initially concluded Gregoire had left on his own volition after a bus company confirmed he had bought a ticket to France.
After the man’s parents went to police with their concerns, authorities planned to detain Widhyastuti next time she returned to France.
Widhyastuti has been locked up in a French jail since November 30.
Her lawyer told French media his client did not have any previous convictions and the experience has been very ‘painful’ for her.
Widhyastuti had previously lived in Cammeray, 5km north of Sydney’s CBD, with her ex-husband and child, according to reports.
A manager at the hotel (pictured) said the two appeared to be a ‘normal couple’ who were often seen going out in hiking gear