The body of an 11-year-old girl who went missing on her way home from school has been discovered in the woods just hours later.
Louise Lasalle, of Essonne, northern France, went missing shortly before 2 p.m. on Friday after leaving André-Maurois middle school in Épinay-sur-Orge.
When she did not return home, her concerned parents contacted authorities, while her sister turned to social media in a desperate plea for help.
“My younger sister, Louise Lassalle, disappeared at 2 p.m. near Andre Maurois College in Epinay. “She followed the Bas Follet trail,” she wrote.
“She wore a purple backpack with a butterfly on it and a navy blue coat. “She also had a large white bandage on her chin.”
But hopes of finding Louise alive were dashed when police discovered her body early Saturday morning in the Parc des Templiers woodlands, less than a mile from her school.
According to Le Parisien, CCTV footage showed the young girl heading toward the park before disappearing.
A large-scale police operation was launched, which included specialist search dogs, drones, and a helicopter.
Authorities arrested a 23-year-old man and his 20-year-old partner after they were reportedly seen on surveillance footage.
The couple was arrested at their home in Épinay-sur-Orge shortly before 12.45 a.m. on Saturday, and Louise’s body was discovered around 2.30 a.m.
According to Le Parisien, they were eventually released without charge.
Public prosecutor Grégoire Dulin confirmed that “an investigation into the murder of a minor has been opened” and is now being handled by Versailles’ organised and specialised crime division.
An autopsy will be performed to determine the specific cause of death.
The local government expressed its condolences, saying: “As soon as [Louise’s] disappearance was reported, all means were deployed to try to find her.”
It comes after the death of a British woman and her husband at their holiday home in France. She is the mother of a former Hollyoaks actor.
Dawn Searle, 56, and her husband Andrew, 62, were discovered dead on Thursday in the hamlet of Les Pesquiès, near Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
Officials initially believed they were killed in a botched burglary, but have since stated that their deaths were “clearly a homicide.”
Dawn’s son, Callum Kerr, is best known for playing PC George Kiss on the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks from 2020 to 2021.
Callum also appeared in Netflix’s Virgin River, playing young Everett, Mel’s father in the most recent season.
The 30-year-old, who is also a country singer and lives in Nashville with his fiance, walked his mother down the aisle when she married Andrew in September 2023.
