She Went Ghost Hunting, Was Found Drained of Blood

A French woman may have been hunting for ghosts before her body was found drained of blood on the floor of an abandoned church in northwest Italy. The 22-year-old woman, who has not been publicly identified, left her home near Lyon, telling family she planned to search for a haunted house, CNN reports. Police believe she may have been taking part in a TikTok competition centered around ghost hunting. They're also considering whether she agreed to be killed, per CNN. A witness in the Aosta Valley region in the Western Alps reported seeing her looking pale and "emaciated" in the company of a male, now considered the prime suspect in her murder. According to Il Globo, the man is on trial in the French city of Grenoble "on suspicion of physically abusing the victim."

Both the man and woman were reportedly dressed "like vampires" when spotted near La Salle, a police rep said, per CNN. The woman was wearing a long dark coat, leggings, and a sweatshirt when a local resident discovered her body Friday inside an abandoned church in the hamlet of Equilivaz above La Salle. She had bled to death, though most of her blood had been scraped from the floor, per CNN. Investigators believe she was stabbed with a camping knife, then shot potentially after she was dead, CNN reports. ANSA describes "drag marks" on the ground, indicating the body may have been brought inside the former church. Police say there were no signs of a struggle. Officers did find some groceries purchased from a local store near the woman's body.

A witness reported encountering the woman and her male companion, who said they were looking for a supermarket and wanted to camp in the mountains, per Italy's L'Unione Sarda. Both were "dressed like two goths, all in dark," the witness said. She described the male, who reportedly had olive skin and dark hair, as "much younger" than the woman, appearing nearly underage. "He didn't seem like a violent guy, far from it," she added. Police continue to search for a burgundy van reportedly seen near the church last week. They note that two other missing persons cases in the area could be related, per CNN. (More murder stories.)