New owners renovating a house in eastern France made the shocking discovery of a human skeleton that are likely that of a former owner who vanished 15 years ago, prosecutors said Monday.

"A corpse reduced to a skeleton was found on Saturday afternoon" in Erstroff, just across the border from the German city Saarbruecken, said Olivier Glady, the prosecutor in nearby town Sarreguemines.

The remains were found "in a difficult-to-access spot under the roof whose entrance was almost hidden," Glady told AFP Monday.

The new owners were renovating the home after buying it in 2023 following the death of the former owner's widow.

"While looking for the source of rainwater leaking into the roof structure, one of the owners entered the cubbyhole almost without realising, and found the skeletal remains inside," Glady said.

The body "is very likely" that of the former owner, who disappeared in 2009 when he was aged 81, he added.

Local police are investigating the cause of death, and the remains have been sent to Strasbourg for forensic examination.

Regional newspaper Le Republicain Lorrain reported that the man's disappearance had gone unresolved despite numerous intensive searches of the area.

His wife died in 2020, prompting the sale of the house.

"The scene where the body was found hints at suicide," prosecutor Glady said, adding that a rope was found still hanging in the attic.