Besançon: a body found in the forest, probably that of Sonia Vacheret

The Besançon public prosecutor indicates that a body was found on Monday August 31 by a walker. Nearby, there were objects belonging to Sonia Vacheret, a fifty-year-old missing since May 9, 2026.

It was a walker who made the macabre discovery. A body was discovered in the forest in Thoraise in the middle of the day Monday August 31, 20 meters from a ridge path. “Several objects discovered near the body suggest that it could be Sonia Vacheret, 54 years old, whose disappearance was reported on May 9, 2026 in Montferrand-le-Château,” specifies prosecutor Cédric Logelin in a press release sent to the press late in the morning.

The place where the body was discovered is located in a neighboring town of Montferrand-le-Chateau where this very athletic teacher lived. This area is particularly wooded and steep, which complicated the search.

DNA analyzes in progress

An autopsy and DNA samples will be carried out. Future investigations will aim to formally identify the deceased person and clarify the circumstances of the death.

An investigation into the causes of death was opened by the Besançon public prosecutor's office and entrusted to soldiers from the Besançon research brigade.

The investigation into the worrying disappearance carried out since May 2026 by the gendarmes of the Besançon research brigade and which is still ongoing had not, at this stage, revealed the intervention of a third party, indicates the prosecutor.

SVT teacher in a high school in Besançon

Sonia Vacheret taught at the Jules Haag high school in Besançon. She was a graduate of ASPTT Besançon and was very athletic.

Very significant search resources had been deployed by the Doubs gendarmerie (dog team, helicopter, gendarmes specialized in mountainous environments, searches in the Doubs and speleological searches in particular) without making it possible to locate Sonia Vacheret. Divers intervened, as did the mountain gendarmerie platoon. Citizen raids also took place in the area.

Contacted by France 3 Franche-Comté, the mayor of the town of Montferrrand-le-Château underlines the immense mobilization which was put in place on the ground to find the missing woman. If the DNA analyzes confirm the identity of Sonia Vacheret, "it is a relief for the family who will be able to mourn" confides the elected official.