Partner of Paris Gunman Believed to Be in Syria

Hayat Boumeddiene Is Believed to Have Left France on Jan. 2.

French authorities believe Hayat Boumeddiene, the girlfriend of the gunman who was killed during a police raid at a kosher store on Friday, left France Jan. 2 and has reached Syria, people familiar with the matter said Saturday.

Police have been hunting for Ms. Boumeddiene since her partner, Amedy Coulibaly, was identified as the alleged shooter of a policewoman on Thursday and stormed a Parisian kosher grocery on Friday, leaving four hostages dead.

French prosecutors have described Ms. Boumeddiene as a dangerous individual who has trained to use firearms.

Ms. Boumeddiene left France and crossed into Syria from Turkey, the people said, before the French capital was plunged into a three-day spree of violence that began with the attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine Wednesday.

A senior Turkish official said Ms. Boumeddiene flew to Turkey with one companion on Jan. 2, landing at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport. The official would not name her travel companion but said Turkish intelligence officials were in constant contact with their French counterparts.

The pair stayed in Istanbul until Jan. 4, when they flew to the southeastern city of Urfa, and most likely headed to Syria, the official said.

“After Urfa, we lost track of them… most likely they crossed into Syria,” the official said.

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