New owners renovating a house in eastern France made a surprise discovery of a human skeleton likely to be that of a former owner who disappeared 15 years ago, prosecutors said Monday.

“A body reduced to a skeleton was found on Saturday afternoon” in Erstroff, just across the border from the German city of Saarbruecken, said Olivier Glady, prosecutor for the nearby town of Sarreguemines.

The remains were found “in a difficult-to-access place under the roof whose entrance was almost hidden,” Glady told AFP on Monday.

The new owners were renovating the house after purchasing it in 2023 following the death of the former owner’s widow.

“While searching for the source of rainwater seeping into the roof structure, one of the homeowners entered the cubicle almost inadvertently and found the skeletal remains inside,” Glady said.

The body “is very likely” to be that of the former owner, who disappeared in 2009 when he was 81 years old, he added.

Local police are investigating the cause of death and the remains have been sent to Strasbourg for forensic examination, squad leader Benoit Vautrin said, according to the regional newspaper. Le Republicain Lorrain.

Le Republicain Lorrain reported that the man’s disappearance had not been solved despite numerous intensive searches in the area. The newspaper identified the man as Aloïs Iffly.

His wife died in 2020, prompting the sale of the house.

“The scene where the body was found suggests suicide,” prosecutor Glady said, adding that a rope was found still hanging in the attic.