Disappearance of Fadila in Ariège: “Do everything to find our friend…” A month later, those close to “Fafa” continue to believe in it

On a topographic map with millimeter precision, Jean-Marie observes the abandoned barns represented by small colored squares. “It’s this way,” he said, “let’s go there…” Fadila Bouafia’s husband, known as “Fafa,” surrounded by several friends, is looking for the slightest trace, the slightest clue. On these steep paths which wind around the Col de la Crouzette, in Biert (09), on the mountainside, the precipice is never far away. One wrong step and it's a fall.

This Tuesday, December 3, those close to Fafa, this 53-year-old woman who has been missing since November 4 not far from there, after an argument with one of her friends, remain hopeful of finding traces of this mother. “We must not give up, even if there are not many of us, we continue to look for her,” says Coralie, one of her relatives. A month and still nothing. If the judicial investigation has progressed, notably with the indictment for murder and the placement in pre-trial detention of this 47-year-old man, François Perez, with whom Fafa would have had trouble, the missing Biert remains untraceable.

“A huge area”

The suspect, imprisoned since November 11, still denies any involvement in the disappearance and murder of his friend. They had known each other for about two years. François Perez, who lives in a cabin in the middle of the woods, not far from the Guirel plateau, used to travel these trails on the handlebars of his motocross bike. “We try not to leave anything to chance even if the area is huge,” continues Coralie, who follows, at a steady pace, the steps of Hélène, a market gardener from Biert, who has come to lend a hand, and Serge, a dashing sixty-year-old , equipped with walking sticks. Under the woods and sinking into the humidity, the troop remains on the lookout.

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The five hikers who set out in search of Fafa meet again at the end of these last four days, with the determination of the first days. Cavities, stumps, suspicious objects deep in the woods, anything that goes beyond nature can be of interest. Equipped with binoculars, Coralie stops in the middle of the paths to observe old cans planted a hundred meters away. The discovery of numerous abandoned barns gives rise to careful inspections. They fall into ruin, in the middle of a carpet of red leaves.

At the bend of these rugged paths, a young shepherdess wants to help. His sheep and ewes attack leftover chestnuts. “I’ll walk you to the next barn,” she said, “but you know, here, my dogs combed the area and if there was anything they would have found it.” A fortuitous support which gives a little more balm to the heart of Jean-Marie, this discreet husband who does not lose hope. In this silent but resilient valley, reinforcements are meager. Aside from the gendarmes who carry out research on this famous witch plateau, at the presumed location of the crime, goodwill is rare. There is solidarity among mountain people but there are still too few volunteers. In the vastness of the undergrowth, Fafa is somewhere. His friends still want to believe it.