Two detained after French influencer's scorched body found in vineyard

Two men have been detained after a young woman's burned body was found in a vineyard in southern France, the local prosecutor has said.

In a statement on Wednesday, Nîmes prosecutor Cécile Gensac confirmed the body found in the Saint-Gilles vineyard belonged to social media influencer Sonia Bellina.

The 29-year-old had a following of around 260,000 on TikTok and was visiting her family in the area a month before her 30th birthday.

The two men were taken into police custody on Wednesday due to "evidence suggesting their direct or indirect involvement in the incident", the prosecutor said.

Police opened a murder investigation after a farmer found a body lying between rows of vines in the village near Nîmes on 12 August, but authorities did not confirm Bellina's identity for several days.

The prosecutor's initial assessment was that the body belonged to a young woman, but more tests were needed to confirm who it was.

In their latest update on Wednesday, Gensac said authorities could now confirm Bellina's identity after various investigations and DNA analysis.

She acknowledged that Bellina's name had been "widely circulated over the past 48 hours".