Body is of missing Basque Jon Anza, police confirm

Police in Bayonne confirmed on Friday morning that the body identified on Thursday at the Toulouse morgue was that of Jon Anza. The family of the deceased has also expressed their conviction that the corpse was that of their missing relative.

The Prosecution Service of Bayonne had been investigating the case since 17th March 2009 when the family of Jon Anza reported him missing. Public prosecutor Anne Kayanakis will give a press conference on Friday afternoon at 3.30pm in which she will provide more details.

Jon Anza was last seen on 18th April 2009 at Bayonne railway station. He was taking a train to Toulouse where he had arranged to meet with other ETA-members to deliver a sum of money. However, ETA sources later informed that he never reached his destination.

Late on Thursday 11th March, various media sources announced that the body of Jon Anza had been found at the Toulouse morgue, where it has apparently resided since May 2009.

According to the same sources, Jon Anza, who was suffering from a brain tumour, was located in the city of Toulouse on the night of 29th April last year, "without documentation, disoriented and with signs of having suffered a heart-attack". Subsequently, the local ambulance service seemingly took him to hospital where he died, 15 days later, on 11th May.

They also signalled that no documentation was found among the deceased''s possessions that would make it possible to identify him; he did have in his possession two train tickets, one of which was for the 18th April, evidence that he had made the journey between Bayonne and Toulouse.

The Basque Pro-Amnesty Movement, meanwhile, which also confirmed the discovery of Jon Anza''s body, confirmed via a statement that they reject the official version being spread by the media since yesterday. "The leak provided by French police is designed to make us believe that Jon died of natural causes," the organisation protests.