French police investigate disappearance of Spanish student in Paris

The French authorities have opened an investigation into the disappearance of 22-year-old Spanish student Natalia Sanchez Uribe, who went missing on Thursday. Some of her belongings were found in a park in Paris this week.

Natalia Sánchez Uribe as seen in a missing persons announcement on the Spanish website sosdesaparecidos.es sosdesaparecidos.es

Uribe was studying was studying Economy and Business at the Barcelona Autonomous University (UAB), and came to Paris for a course at the Sorbonne Economics School as part of the Erasmus programme. She was due to conclude her studies there in two weeks.

According to the UAB, as reported in El Pais newspaper, the young woman's rucksack containing her mobile phone and laptop was located on Tuesday. Friends of hers explained that these personal possessions appeared in a park close to the university.

Sources said that her roommates reported her disappearance with the French police, and her parents have since travelled to Paris to keep up to date with the investigation.

The QSD Foundation, which works to locate missing people, has put out a request via its Twitter account for help from the public to locate the student.

The Spanish Interior ministry put out a Twitter message on Monday, describing Sanchez Uribe as 1.62 meters tall, with dark skin, long brown hair and a nose piercing.

📢 ALERTA: Natalia, una estudiante española de 22 años de Erasmus en París, está desaparecida desde el 1 de mayo.

➡️ Mide 1,62 m, piel morena, pelo largo castaño y lleva un piercing en la nariz

📲 Si la ves, avisa a @guardiacivil @policia [e-mail]#CNDES pic.twitter.com/1TPCOg6LBl

  Ministerio Interior (@interiorgob) 6 mai 2019

One of her friends, who asked not to be named, told El Pais that Sanchez Uribe had been expressing her concern that she was being followed and observed. “She had been saying for a month that she felt that someone was following her, but we thought that she was exaggerating, because she has always been fearful, and as such we didn’t take much notice of her,” her friend said.