An Aristocrat’s Wife, 4 Kids and 2 Dogs Were Found Buried Under Home — and Then He Vanished Without a Trace By Christina Coulter 46

He was a debt-ridden aristocrat with a crumbling life — and when his family was found buried under the patio, he vanished without a trace.

In April 2011, police in Nantes, France, uncovered five bodies wrapped in sheets, dusted with lime and buried beneath a suburban garden, according to France24. A mother, her four children and the family’s two dogs had all been shot execution-style, after being drugged.

The woman’s husband, Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, was nowhere to be found.

Authorities later identified the victims as Agnès Dupont de Ligonnès, 48, and her children — Arthur, 21; Thomas, 18; Anne, 16; and Benoît, 13. Investigators believe they were killed between April 3 and 5, and buried beneath the back patio in what police called a “methodical execution.”

Though Xavier came from noble blood and styled himself “Comte,” or Count, his finances had collapsed. His businesses were failing, and he had accumulated major debts — even as he continued paying for private school and maintaining a comfortable image, according to The Guardian.

In the weeks before the murders, he reportedly gave away personal belongings, per Society.

Investigators would later learn he’d written to multiple people hinting at an undercover life with U.S. drug-enforcement authorities in letters sent shortly before the murders, according to The Guardian.

Separately, they found an earlier message from 2010 in which he mentioned the idea of a “collective” suicide. Around the same time, he claimed he and his family would soon be entering witness protection, a story authorities now believe was meant to explain away their sudden disappearance.

When officers searched the home, they found notes and letters supporting the cover story, and a sign on the mailbox asking for mail to be returned to sender.

According to Reuters, police believe Xavier had been preparing for weeks. He inherited a .22 rifle from his father shortly before the killings and joined a local shooting club. Surveillance footage later showed him making solo withdrawals from ATMs across southern France.

The last confirmed sighting of Xavier was on April 15, 2011, at a budget hotel in Roquebrune-sur-Argens. He paid in cash, checked out quietly the next morning and disappeared.

In the years that followed, authorities chased more than 900 reported sightings across multiple countries, per The Guardian. In 2015, human bones were found in Fréjus near Xavier’s last known location — but DNA tests showed they weren’t his.

That same year, an AFP journalist received a handwritten letter and a photo of the two eldest sons with a message scrawled on the back: “I’m still alive.” The letter’s authenticity was never confirmed.

At one point, French police even searched a monastery, acting on a tip Xavier had joined a religious order under a new identity. In 2019, a man was arrested at the Glasgow airport after traveling from Paris — sparking international headlines — but fingerprints and DNA later proved it was a case of mistaken identity, according to The Guardian and France24.

Authorities say Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès is still wanted under an international arrest warrant, and no confirmed evidence has emerged to establish whether he is alive or dead.