the essential
On July 19, 2013, Julie Michel, 26, mysteriously disappeared at the Port of Lers, in Ariège. His mother, Betty Lefebvre, is waiting for justice to relaunch investigations. Especially since investigators are working on another disappearance case, that of Fadila Bouafia, 53, who disappeared in the same area since November 4, 2024. In this case, a former soldier accused of murder is placed in pre-trial detention. He denies the facts.
“I won't give up. Ever!” Betty Lefebvre is a determined mother. More than 11 years after the mysterious disappearance of her daughter, Julie Michel, then aged 26, strangely vanished in Ariège on July 19, 2013 during a “road trip”, this mother is not giving up. While the investigation into a “disturbing disappearance” was closed in August 2018 by the Foix public prosecutor’s office, Betty clings to other hopes.
Also read:
Disappearance of Fadila in Ariège: “Another lead has not been dug”, believes François Perez, accused of murder
“I am still waiting to be received by a judge after the procedure opened for 'kidnapping and sequestration' and my filing as a civil party, in May 2024, with the dean of investigating judges, at the Toulouse judicial court”, s The impatient Betty, living in Auxerre (Yonne) where Julie is from. An impatience that is all the more legitimate as another case of disturbing disappearance, in the same area, is now occupying the courts.
About fifteen kilometers away
Even if caution is required, it is difficult not to mention the disappearance of Fadila Bouafia, this 53-year-old mother and grandmother, who has not given any sign of life since November 4, 2024. The one we nicknamed “Fafa”, disappeared from radar on the heights of Biert, not far from Massat, about fifteen kilometers from the Port of Lers, site of the discovery, on August 5, 2013, of the Renault 21 Nevada station wagon, by Julie Michel.
Also read:
Disappearance of Fadila in Ariège: discovery of a rifle, civil party…, her relatives want to understand what happened
Accused of the murder of Fadila, François Perez, a 47-year-old former soldier, is placed in pre-trial detention. At the end of a party with friends, on the heights of Biert, this man who lives self-sustaining in a cabin in the middle of the woods, is suspected of having killed his friend. Accusation that he refutes from the start. Could the disappearance of Julie, whose lifestyle corresponded to that of this former soldier, have a link with the latter? If any connection between these two cases is premature, Julie's mother wants checks to be made. In particular to find out if François Perez was present, in Massat, on the evening of July 18, 2013.
“That evening, my daughter was at the Massat night market. In the morning, she was buying postcards and was seen at the tourist office. She was moving on the fringes of the consumer society she was fleeing and she was looking for an alternative way of life But Ariège was not included in the journey started by car a few weeks ago.
Also read:
Disappearance of Julie Michel in Ariège: her mother on M6 this evening to launch a new call for testimonies
This July 19, a paraglider crossed paths with her, around 12 p.m., in front of her vehicle. Then, nothing more. It was only three weeks later, when his car was finally reported parked in the Port de Lers pass parking lot, that the first searches began.
Clothes, telephone, stove were found in the station wagon which served as his sleeping place. Runaway, suicide, accident? All avenues were explored by the gendarmes of the Saint-Girons research brigade. In vain. But investigations started late. “The work of preserving the traces and clues when her car was reported may not have been optimal”, regrets Betty who would like us to probe the Lers pond, a watering hole located 1,200 meters above sea level. 'altitude.
The association for assistance and search for missing persons (ARPD) is also trying to help Julie's mother by collecting information. She hopes that new testimonies will help to unravel this affair and loosen tongues in Massat.
Follower of a community
Before disappearing, Julie, whose left arm is covered with a distinctive tattoo, had joined her boyfriend in Lacanau (Gironde). Then, she had to reach Spain. Why did she stop in Ariège? “I don’t know yet,” assures Betty, “but she wasn’t the type to disappear like that. She probably had a bad encounter… I hope she’s alive somewhere.”
Curious about life and attracted to travel – she had spent three months in South America – Julie was also in contact with a member of the Enki community (a reference to the god of wisdom) on the internet. “She often indulged in incantations and prayers to follow the precepts of these followers. Did she have an appointment with one of them in Ariège?” An avenue also explored but no link has been established between his disappearance and the possible presence of a member of this community, not far from Massat.
To this day there is still hope. The one that justice relaunches investigations to understand what happened to Julie.
