On Thursday, August 24, 2023, Bruno D. had woken up a little earlier than usual when his wife got up and turned on the light at 6:30 am to get ready. Shortly before 8 am, he walked his dog along the road lined with fields in front of their modest-looking house in the Sarthe countryside in western France. Then he took out the trash. After that, the retired postal worker turned on his computer for a quick game of online poker.

In front of his screen, Bruno D. had no idea he was about to become the first victim in a spectacular series of extremely violent kidnappings carried out by a criminal group specializing in cryptocurrency ransom demands. While his story received little media coverage, the next two cases would attract far greater attention: the abduction of David Balland on January 21 and that of the father of a poker player who made a fortune in cryptocurrencies on May 1.

Around 9:30 am, the retiree's online card game was interrupted by someone ringing the doorbell. A Citroën Jumpy van had just parked in front of the house. A bearded young man, wearing a yellow safety vest, got out and approached the front door of the house, posing as an Amazon delivery driver with a package in his hands.

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