The body of an 11-year-old girl who had gone missing was discovered in the woods of northern France, and police have reportedly begun a murder inquiry.
The death of an 11-year-old girl was discovered 12 hours after her parents reported her missing, according to a news statement issued by police in the town of Epinay-sur-Orge, which is situated in Essonne, roughly 16 miles south of Paris, on Saturday, February 8. According to The Sun, the girl’s sister posted on social media that she was Louise Lasalle.
On Friday afternoon, February 7, Lasalle was heading home from her middle school, according to police, according to French news agencies Le Parisien, RTL, and FranceInfo. Since the middle schooler’s trek usually took only ten minutes, her parents called the police at approximately 1:50 p.m. local time to report that she had not arrived home.
According to Le Parisien, Lasalle’s older sister posted on social media that she was last seen crossing a roadway in the nearby town of Longjumeau, where her family resides, and asked for assistance from the public in finding her.
According to FranceInfo, investigators discovered CCTV evidence showed Lasalle entering the Bois des Templiers forests, which is close to her school, later on Friday night. Then, employing search parties, tracking dogs, aircraft, and drones, investigators started looking through the woods.
According to the sites, authorities had found Lasalle’s body around 2:30 a.m. on February 8. The man was stabbed multiple times, according to a source who spoke to FranceInfo after an autopsy later that day; however, no official cause of death had been disclosed.
In a Facebook press statement, police noted in French, “We were deeply saddened to discover that Louise’s body had been discovered dead that evening, in the Bois des Templiers.” “As soon as her disappearance was reported, all means were deployed to try to find her.”
A 20-year-old woman and a 23-year-old male were later taken into custody by police when the guy was captured on security tape following Lasalle, according to FranceInfo. The outlet claims that local authorities were already aware of the individual, whose name has not been disclosed. Just after midnight, cops knocked on his door when he and the woman, who was identified as his companion, was twenty years old.
Later on February 8, according to Le Parisien, police freed the pair from detention when the 20-year-old woman’s parents denied that she had anything to do with the event.
Authorities have begun an inquiry for the “murder of a minor under 15,” according to Grégoire Dulin, the public prosecutor for the area, who told FranceInfo that the Versailles judicial police had taken over the case.
“The police and justice forces must be allowed to carry out their duties while the inquiry is ongoing. We share the family’s sorrow in the face of this terrible loss,” the police noted in their news release. “Let us collectively ensure that we respect their grief with dignity.”
According to FranceInfo, on February 8, a church service was performed in Lasalle’s honor.
Following the discovery of Lasalle’s death, French Minister of Education Élisabeth Borne posted a statement on X, writing in French: “I offer my condolences to her family, her loved ones, her classmates, and her teachers following the discovery of the body of young Louise last night in Essonne.”
“I am counting on investigators and the justice system to shed light on this tragedy,” she stated.
