A body, whose identification has yet to be completed, was found today near where an 11-year-old girl has been missing for a week in southwestern France, a source close to the investigation said.
A key suspect, a 41-year-old family man, has been detained in the case, but is currently on silence. On Wednesday, it became known that this father of two had previously been the subject of several complaints and charges, including rape of a minor.
The possibility of mismanagement of one of these cases led the French government to announce that it was launching an administrative investigation. Delays in the adjudication of the cases, administrative errors, poor information from previous victims all came to light with the disappearance of little Liana, lawyers and associations defending the victims said.
The body was found by police officers in a zone where authorities were searching for the girl, in an agricultural factory, a source told Agence France-Presse. Prosecutor Olivier Nampoulet, who is in charge of investigating the case, is expected to arrive at the scene and may make statements to the press.
Today, the seventh day after Liana disappeared, 170 police officers were continuing their search and appealed to volunteer riders at an equestrian centre to search wooded areas south of Fleurence, a community of 6,000 where the girl was last seen.
