French police have arrested two people in connection with the disappearance of Pascal Troadec and his family, who have been missing since mid-February.

The sister and brother-in-law of Troadec have been remanded in custody, sources close to the case said.

The couple had already been questioned by police at the beginning of the investigation into the disappearance of the Troadec family, the sources said, confirming reports in a local newspaper.



Pierre Sennes, a Nantes prosecutor, confirmed that two people were in custody but declined to give their identities.

The pair were detained in Brest, Brittany, the region the Troadecs came from and where several personal items belonging to them have been found.

Charlotte Troadec and her brother, Sebastien. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Troadec, his wife, Brigitte, and their son, Sebastien, 21, and daughter, Charlotte, 18, went missing on 16 February.

An investigation into murder, abduction and illegal confinement is under way.

In searches at the parents’ home in a suburb of Nantes, police discovered Sebastien’s mobile phone and his mother’s watch covered with blood, police said.

Traces of blood from Sebastien and his parents, but not his sister, were found throughout the house, as well as signs of efforts to clean them up.

Police officers block access to a street in Orvault, Nantes, where the Troadec family home is situated. Photograph: SIPA/Rex/Shutterstock

Police said in a bulletin dated 24 February that the 21-year-old was suspected of “putting in place a macabre plan aimed at snuffing out the members of his family and maybe himself”.

Investigators have found his car, while items belonging to his sister were discovered by a jogger in a forested area three hours’ drive from where she was last seen.

A judicial investigation into murder, abduction and illegal confinement was opened last week.