Hundreds of people have joined a silent march for a nine-year-old girl whose disappearance from a wedding reception four months ago could be linked to the mystery killing of a British couple in the French Alps, reports The Guardian.
There has been no trace of Maëlys de Araujo since August despite widespread searches and hundreds of police interviews.
At least 500 people, many in tears, turned out in the rain and wind to march in the Isère commune, where the girl went missing. The event was called to express solidarity with her parents. One banner read “truth for Maëlys”.
Nordahl Lelandais, 34, also a guest at the wedding, has been put under official investigation for kidnapping and murder in connection with the girl’s disappearance near Chambéry in the French Alps, but denies any involvement.
Lelandais, a former military dog trainer, has also been charged with the murder of Arthur Noyer, a soldier who vanished near Chambéry in April.
Detectives are re-examining other unsolved disappearances and murders in the area, including the shooting of three members of the British-Iraqi al-Hilli family at a Chevaline mountain beauty spot near Annecy five years ago.
On September 5th 2012, an unknown attacker gunned down Saad al-Hilli, 50, his wife, Iqbal, 47, her mother, Suhaila al-Allaf, 74, and a passing French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier, 45. The al-Hillis’ two daughters, aged four and seven at the time, survived the attack.
The younger hid under the legs of her dead mother in the rear of the car for eight hours. The elder was shot and beaten, suffering injuries to the shoulder and head.
The Chambéry prosecutor, Thierry Dran, told a recent news conference: “With the police, we will obviously be looking into all of the worrying disappearances that have taken place in the region.”
French investigators have presented circumstantial evidence linking Lelandais to Maëlys’ disappearance. The girl, whose ninth birthday was in November, was attending the wedding with her parents in the village of Le Pont-de Beauvoisin in the Isère region.
A black Audi A3, reportedly belonging to the former solider, was filmed by CCTV cameras driving away from the reception in the early hours of August 27th.
The Grenoble prosecutor, Jean-Yves Coquillat, who is heading the inquiry, told journalists: “A frail, small silhouette [of someone] wearing a white dress can be seen in the front passenger seat.”
Maëlys was wearing a white dress for the wedding. The vehicle was seen returning along the same route at 3.24am, but there appeared to be no passenger.