A manhunt is underway after the body of an 11-year-old girl was found with stab wounds in a forest in France.
Louise Lasalle vanished while on her way home from school in Essonne, northern France, shortly before 2pm on Friday, police believe. Her parents raised the alarm when she didn’t return home from André-Maurois middle school in the town of Épinay-sur-Org.
Police have now opened a murder investigation after her body was found overnight between Friday and Saturday in the Bois des Templiers woodlands.
More than 120 national police officers were dispatched alongside horses, drones, dogs and a helicopter over the weekend, to comb through the three hectares of forest near where the schoolgirl’s body was found, BFMTV reported.
Devastated classmates have paid tribute to Louise, with one girl telling TF1 that she was “funny, intelligent and she loved her friends, she was everything to us".
Louise was last spotted on a pedestrian crossing at the exit of the northern French town, just south of Paris.
CCTV footage from nearby cameras has shown a man wandering nearby as Louise heads towards the park on her way home. However, a source close to the investigation told Le Parisien that even if the person was following the victim, there is nothing to “affirm that this is indeed the killer”.
An autopsy at the Corbeil-Essonnes forensic institute on Saturday afternoon found that Louise was repeatedly stabbed with an object likely to be a knife, French media has cited authorities as saying.
Two people were taken into custody on Saturday in connection with the crime. BFMTV reported they were released in the evening after no evidence was found against them.
"At this stage, there is no evidence to suggest that sexual violence was committed," the Évry public prosecutor's office also stated.
The public prosecutors office has been contacted by The Independent for the latest information.
Police have now secured school routes in the towns of Longjumeau and Épinay-sur-Orge with local parents fearing for their children’s safety on their school commutes, the town announced on its Facebook page on Sunday evening.
Longjumeau authorities also thanked the parents who have been accompanying children to school following the attack to ensure their safety.
Gisèle, whose daughter is in the 5th grade at Louise’s school and had insisted she would go to school today, told Le Parisien: "I'm going to organize myself all week to make the journeys morning and evening with her and other friends.”
Another worried mother told TF1: “We're completely shocked. We're shocked. We can't imagine that this kind of thing could happen next door to us.”
A support contact has been set up for anyone in the area requiring psychological support.
