Paulette Landrieux - When a Street View image uncovers a secret
In Belgium, in 2020, an 83-year-old woman vanished without a trace. For years, investigators had no reliable lead. Then, against all odds, a publicly available Google Street View image gave the investigation a new direction. It stands as a striking example of how OSINT can quietly find its place within an investigation — even in Belgium.
The Context and the Disappearance
On November 2, 2020, Paulette Landrieux, 83 years old and suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, went missing in Andenne, Belgium.
At the time of her disappearance, she was near her home, under her husband’s supervision. But at some point, she goes out and never returns. Searches are launched immediately: aircraft, drones, ground teams, and witness canvassing - without result
Two years passed. No concrete sign emerged. The case slowly turned into a mystery.
The OSINT Turning Point: The Street View Image That Changed Everything
During the investigation, an investigator turned to public image archives. He carefully examined the Google Street View captures of Rue Reppe, the street where Paulette had lived.
In one of these images, the first taken at that location in more than ten years, a woman matching Paulette’s description (wearing a white sweater and black trousers) can be seen walking toward a neighbor’s garden.
This image became a valuable clue : investigators retraced the possible path suggested by it, climbing the nearby slopes and examining the surrounding terrain. They focused their search on the area toward which the image showed her heading.
Discovery and Conclusions
Eventually, Paulette’s body is found just a few meters from her home, below a garden close to the house visible in the image. This matches the path suggested by the Street View image.
The authorities’ conclusion: she likely suffered a fall, probably unwitnessed, and could not be located in the first days despite intensive search efforts.
The fact that the public image remained unnoticed and was not immediately analyzed highlights the gap between technical capabilities and the practical use of such data in certain investigations.
The story of Paulette Landrieux shows that OSINT is not just a distant field reserved for major international investigations.
Even in a local Belgian investigation, open-source intelligence can help complement what traditional methods were unable to uncover.
When an image from a service accessible to everyone helps reveal a direction, OSINT proves that it can act as a beacon in the darkness of long-unanswered disappearances.
The L’Avenir article
