Lifeless body of missing restaurant owner from Tournai found in Scheldt

Local residents had noticed the lifeless body of a woman on Monday morning in the Scheldt, near the old Casterman printing works in the Kain territory. Divers from the fire brigade brought the remains to dry land around half past twelve for a first external autopsy.

Around 2 p.m., the prosecutor’s office confirmed that it was, as feared, Cathy Dubois. It is still unclear what exactly happened to her and what caused her death. The police are still keeping all options open, it sounds. This means that they investigate whether a criminal act has occurred. Or that it was an act of desperation.

Shortly before she received the bad news, her sister Bénédicte, with whom she had a very close bond, posted a message addressed to the missing Cathy.

“Where are you my sister? Did you leave? Have you been robbed? Have you been kidnapped? Are you still alive? Are you out of this world?,” she wrote. Followed by “Come back to us.”

The 47-year-old woman disappeared on Saturday evening after closing her restaurant Une P’tit Envie in the center of Tournai around 11:30 p.m. It had been a busy evening, and after the last customers had left, she cleaned up some more and did the dishes. Her partner and son went home at 10 p.m., after the kitchen was closed.

During the night, the woman’s car, a gray Peugeot, was found on Boulevard Eisenhower, behind Tournai station. The vehicle was damaged, but no traces of blood were found, the prosecutor’s office said.

Fire extinguisher emptied

“The car was poorly parked, but was locked,” the police said. The fire extinguisher may have been sprayed over the car to erase traces. The Tournai police took the vehicle away for further investigation.

The woman’s partner and son have already been interrogated, but that yielded no results.

The place where the restaurant is located, the station where the car was parked and the lock near Kain, where the body was found, are close to each other. It is also not yet clear whether the woman ended up in the water or was carried away by the current.

An autopsy will now have to determine the cause of death.

The public prosecutor’s office has no information for the time being, but is asking possible witnesses to come forward.

Anyone with information about the death of Cathy Dubois can contact the Tournai police on 069/250.250 or on the free number of the Federal Police 0800/30 300.