Europe

Reports: Inheritance at heart of missing French family probe

Associated Press
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FILE - This handout photo provided by the French Police Nationale sent to French police authorities on Feb. 24, 2017, shows portraits of the missing Troadec family. From left, father Pascal Troadec, mother Brigitte Troadec, son Sebastien Troadec, and daughter Charlotte Troadec. French media say the former brother-in-law of a missing French couple has confessed to killing them and their two adult children. (Police Nationale via AP, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - This Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017 file photo shows a police car parked outside the house belonging to the missing Troadec family in Orvault, near Nantes, western France. French media say the former brother-in-law of a missing French couple has confessed to killing them and their two adult children. (AP Photo/Laetitia Notarianni, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - This Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017 file photo shows the mailbox, sealed by police, of the house belonging to the missing Troadec family in Orvault, near Nantes, western France. French media say the former brother-in-law of a missing French couple has confessed to killing them and their two adult children. (AP Photo/Laetitia Notarianni, File) (The Associated Press)

French media say the former brother-in-law of a missing French couple has confessed to killing them and their two adult children.

Citing the Nantes prosecutor, Ouest-France newspaper said Monday that the brother-in-law was detained Sunday. The newspaper and RTL radio said a dispute over an inheritance is at the heart of the investigation into the missing Troadec family.

Traces of blood from the parents, Pascal and Brigitte, and from son Sebastien, were found on the staircase and ground floor during an initial search Feb. 23 in the parents' home in Orvault, a suburb of Nantes. The national health card of their 18-year-old daughter, Charlotte, was found in a pair of trousers in a ditch more than 270 kilometers (170 miles) away.

The family phones have gone unused since Feb. 17.