TikTok star's naked body found in French vineyard during holiday celebrating 30th birthday
Police opened a murder investigation after a farmer found the body lying between rows of vines in the village near Nîmes on August 12
Two men have been arrested after the scorched body of a TikTok influencer was found in a vineyard in southern France, according to the local prosecutor.
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Nîmes prosecutor Cécile Gensac has confirmed that the body found in the Saint-Gilles vineyard belonged to social media influencer Sonia Bellina and shared the news in a statement on Wednesday.
Bellina, 29, had around 260,000 followers on TikTok and had been visiting her family the month before her 30th birthday.
The two men have been detained on Wednesday after "evidence suggesting their direct or indirect involvement in the incident", the prosecutor has said.
Police opened a murder investigation after a farmer found the body lying between rows of vines in the village near Nîmes on August 12.
Read more: Murder inquiry launched after woman dies and eight others injured in fire
The identity of the body was not confirmed to be Bellina’s for several days.
The prosecutor initially determined that the body belonged to a young woman, but more tests were required for him to formally confirm her identity.
On Wednesday, Gensac announced that the body belonged to Bellina's following various investigations and DNA analysis.
Bellina's name had been "widely circulated over the past 48 hours", she acknowledged.
The family’s lawyer told French media that Bellina’s relatives had confirmed the body was Bellina’s, before Gensac’s update.
The family’s lawyer, Mourad Battikh, told broadcaster RTL that the 29-year-old's body was "abandoned" and "almost thrown away like garbage" in "a murder of rare savagery".
In the days after the body was found, rumours circulated online about who it belonged to.
A woman who claimed to be Bellina’s sister - but did not give her name - claimed she believed the body was her sister's before it was confirmed.
Battikh has condemned the online harassment the family has been subjected to in the aftermath of Bellina’s death, and said he would "let nothing slide".
He warned that anything published would be scrutinised, and reported if necessary.
In a press release, the lawyer said: "The family is going through an extremely violent ordeal.
"They request respect for their privacy and their grief and will not be making any further statements".