Auriane was only 20 years old. When she was found, she was wearing a beige sweatshirt and leggings. A bag of marshmallows was lying beside her.

Auriane was only 20 years old. When she was found, she was wearing a beige sweatshirt and leggings. A bag of marshmallows was lying beside her. Her body was curled into a fetal position on the dusty floor of an abandoned chapel in the mountains above La Salle, in Italy’s Aosta Valley.

For a moment, the person who found her thought she was sleeping.

She looked almost like a young traveler who had entered the old chapel simply to find somewhere quiet to rest.

But Auriane was not sleeping.

She was dead.

Investigators soon began looking at the circumstances surrounding her death.

According to prosecutors, this was not believed to be a sudden or accidental death.

They described the case as one connected to a history of control, abuse, and violence.

Authorities believe Auriane died sometime between March 26 and March 27.

Attention eventually turned to her former partner, 21-year-old Teima Sohaib.

He was later arrested in Lyon, France.

According to his lawyer, Sohaib was not hiding from authorities.

The defense said he was staying with his family in France and was there for his studies.

But investigators were also looking closely at the history between Auriane and her former partner.

Auriane had previously reported alleged domestic violence and abuse.

Authorities had already become involved before her death.

A restraining order had reportedly been issued in an effort to keep Sohaib away from her.

But despite everything that had happened between them, Auriane later traveled with him again.

Why she decided to go remains difficult to fully understand from the outside.

People in abusive relationships can remain connected to the person hurting them for many complicated reasons.

Fear, hope, emotional attachment, manipulation, and the belief that someone may change can all play a role.

On March 25, Auriane and Sohaib reportedly boarded a low-cost bus together.

They began traveling.

To people around them, they may have looked like two young tourists moving through Europe.

But prosecutors believe something much darker was happening behind the scenes.

During the journey, some people reportedly noticed that Auriane did not look well.

She appeared thin, exhausted, and possibly frightened.

Meanwhile, Sohaib was described by witnesses as calm.

Nothing at the time caused anyone around them to understand how serious the situation might have been.

Then the two were no longer seen traveling together.

Not long afterward, Auriane’s body was discovered inside the abandoned chapel near La Salle.

At first, investigators did not know who she was.

There was no immediate identification that gave police her name.

But beside her body, investigators reportedly found a small USB drive.

That device became an important piece of the investigation.

Information connected to it helped authorities identify the young woman as Auriane.

Her parents were then informed.

Her body could finally be returned to her family.

And investigators were able to focus more closely on the person they believed was connected to her death.

Sohaib was eventually taken into custody.

He is now being held in Turin while the case moves through the Italian justice system.

According to reports, he had already served six months in France in connection with previous abuse involving Auriane.

But the accusation that he killed her is a separate and much more serious case.

That murder case has not yet reached a final judgment.

Sohaib continues to deny responsibility for Auriane’s death.

He has not been convicted of her murder, and the court will ultimately have to decide whether prosecutors can prove the accusation against him.

For Auriane’s family, however, the legal process cannot change what has already happened.

A 20-year-old woman left home and traveled with someone she had previously accused of abuse.

Days later, she was found dead in an abandoned chapel in the Italian mountains.

She was wearing ordinary clothes.

There were marshmallows beside her.

And for a few moments, the person who found her thought she was simply asleep.

Auriane’s story is now part of a larger conversation about domestic violence, coercive control, restraining orders, and what can happen when abusive relationships continue even after authorities become involved.

The trial will decide criminal responsibility.

But Auriane will never get the chance to tell the rest of her own story.

She was only 20 years old.