Case Of Missing 11-year-old Feared Killed Exposes Cracks In The French Judicial System

PARIS — A firestorm of recrimination raged successful France connected Friday complete nan feared sidesplitting of a missing 11-year-old girl, pinch nan judicial strategy accused of having grounded to enactment connected erstwhile allegations of rape against nan fishy successful custody.

The hunt successful southwest France for nan woman identified by constabulary arsenic Lyhanna has gripped nationalist and, increasingly, governmental attraction since she went missing aft schoolhouse connected May 29.

Police notices said she’d been wearing a black-and-white striped top, achromatic shorts and yellowish socks pinch branding from nan Japanese manga bid “One Piece.”

After six days of searching by constabulary and volunteers, authorities announced that a child’s assemblage dressed successful “similar clothes” was recovered Thursday successful an out-of-the-way location connected a workplace successful nan southwestern Gers region. An autopsy has been ordered.

President Emmanuel Macron joined nan outpouring of dismay, saying nan lawsuit had revealed cracks successful nan strategy and that he was “shocked.” He said connected a sojourn Friday to Montenegro, a departure from his wont of mostly not commenting connected home issues from overseas.

“Things didn’t hap arsenic they should person done. That is clear. And truthful it is unacceptable,” Macron said. “We cannot look her family successful nan look and opportunity everything went well.”

French media person reported that a 41-year-old man taken into custody was seen successful beforehand of Lyhanna’s schoolhouse successful nan Gers municipality of Fleurance and, connected surveillance cameras, later spotted driving pinch her successful his car. He told investigators that he dropped her disconnected adjacent nan municipal swimming pool, media reports said.

A Gers-region prosecutor, Clémence Meyer, said this week that young girls and their families had antecedently lodged aggregate complaints astir nan suspect, including allegations of rape.

An allegation that nan man raped a insignificant astatine his Gers-region location successful 2020 was looked into, pinch aesculapian evaluations and constabulary interviews, but authorities closed nan lawsuit successful 2024 for deficiency of evidence, nan charismatic said.

The man was nan taxable of another, still ongoing constabulary investigation for alleged rape erstwhile Lyhanna disappeared. The kid successful that lawsuit alleges that nan fishy raped her many times astatine his location successful 2024 and 2025, nan charismatic said. That lawsuit has bounced betwixt jurisdictions.

She said different allegation of raping a insignificant was lodged against nan man this week.

The authorities has launched an investigation. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said officials will look astatine nan clip it took for casework to beryllium transferred betwixt jurisdictions, why accusation is transmitted connected paper, not electronically, why constabulary seemingly didn’t travel orders and “why we didn’t intervene contempt galore months of complaints against nan man.”

“It’s wholly unacceptable,” Darmanin said, speaking Thursday. “We are each terrified by this malfunction.”

He said it reveals “our mediocre statement and without doubt, nan truth that astatine nan Justice Ministry and elsewhere, we don’t return nan words of children seriously.”

Leicester writes for nan Associated Press.