Police have reportedly opened a murder investigation after the body of a missing 11-year-old girl was found in the woods of northern France.
On Saturday, Feb. 8, police in the town of Epinay-sur-Orge — located in Essonne, about 16 miles south of Paris — said in a press release that investigators had found the body of an 11-year-old girl 12 hours after she was reported missing by her parents. The girl was identified as Louise Lasalle by her sister on social media, per The Sun.
According to French news outlets The Parisian, RTL and Franceinfopolice said that Lasalle was walking home from her middle school on Friday afternoon, Feb. 7. At around 1:50 p.m. local time, the middle schooler’s parents contacted police to report that she had not made it home, as her walk typically only took 10 minutes.
Louise Lasalle.
Epinay-sur-Orge/Facebook
Lasalle’s older sister shared a post on social media asking for the public’s help in searching for her, per Le Parisien, and said that she was last seen crossing a street in the neighboring town of Longjumeau, where Lasalle’s family lives.
Later on Friday night, police found CCTV footage of Lasalle entering the Bois des Templiers woods, just outside of her school, FranceInfo reported. Investigators then began searching the woods, using search parties, tracking dogs, helicopters and drones.
By 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 8, police had located Lasalle’s body, the outlets reported. An autopsy was conducted later that day, and a source told FranceInfo that the victim had been stabbed several times, but an official cause of death had not been made available.
“It was with great emotion that we learned that Louise’s body had been found lifeless that night, in the Bois des Templiers,” police wrote in French in a press release shared on Facebook. “As soon as her disappearance was reported, all means were deployed to try to find her.”
A memorial for Louise Lasalle, set up outside of her middle school in Epinay-sur-Orge, France.
PINK JULY/AFP via Getty
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According to FranceInfo, police later detained a 23-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman after the man was seen in security footage walking behind Lasalle. Per the outlet, the man — whose name has not been made public — was already known to local authorities. He and the 20-year-old woman, identified as his partner, were at his home when police knocked on the door just after midnight.
The parents of the 20-year-old woman denied that she was involved in the incident at all, and police released the couple from custody later on Feb. 8, per Le Parisien.
According to FranceInfo, the area’s public prosecutor, Grégoire Dulin, said that authorities had opened an investigation for the “murder of a minor under 15,” and that the Versailles judicial police had taken over the case.
Police officers stand near the spot where the 11-year-old’s body was found.
PINK JULY/AFP via Getty
“The investigation is ongoing and it is essential to let the police and justice forces do their work. Faced with this horrible tragedy, we join in the family’s pain,” police added in their press release. “Let us collectively ensure that we respect their grief with dignity.”
FranceInfo reported that a church service was held in honor of Lasalle on Feb. 8.
French Minister of Education Élisabeth Borne shared a statement on X after Lasalle’s body was found, writing in French: “Following the discovery of the body of young Louise last night in Essonne, I offer my condolences to her family, her loved ones, her classmates and her teachers.”
“I am counting on investigators and the justice system to shed light on this tragedy,” she added.
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