But many remain, and the families of those who remain missing are still living in the particular state of unresolved uncertainty that the Barclay case illustrates so vividly.

The Specific Crime Bourdin Committed

It is worth being precise about the specific legal nature of what Bourdin did, because precision here helps clarify both the seriousness of the crime and its relationship to the broader harm caused.

Frédéric Bourdin was convicted of two federal crimes: passport fraud and perjury.

The passport fraud charge arose from his obtaining of a US passport in the name of Nicholas Barclay by making false representations to US government officials about his identity.

Fraudulently obtaining government travel documents is a serious federal offense, and the deliberate, systematic nature of Bourdin’s false representations made the charge straightforward.