Disappearance of Fadila in Ariège: accused of murder, the ex-soldier requests his release

While the gendarmerie units do not relax their efforts to try to find the trace of Fadila Bouafia, this 53-year-old woman, missing since the beginning of November, in the mountains of Biert, in Ariège, after a party with friends, the main suspect , accused of having killed her, still says he is innocent.

Wednesday December 18, his lawyer, M^e Guy Dedieu, filed a request for release in the office of the investigating judges, at the Toulouse judicial court. François Perez, a 47-year-old ex-soldier, would have been the last person to have seen “Fafa”, alive, on November 4, 2024, after three days of celebration, at a place called La Croue, this isolated place in the mountains, perched at more than 800 meters above sea level.

This man, a native of Bayonne and living for more than 15 years in a cabin, in the heart of the undergrowth of this valley, has been imprisoned since November 11. A week earlier he had found himself alone with Fadila.

Difficult timeline

Two telephone recordings of this disturbing face-to-face show death threats made by François Perez, suggesting that Fadila is in danger. Messages sent by one of his relatives that day went unanswered.

“Fafa” was reportedly seen five hours later by a friend, confirming that she had witnessed an argument. Which, in the defense of François Perez, means that Fadila Bouafia did not disappear in the direct continuity of these threats time-stamped between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., Monday November 4.

“My client had no reason to be angry with this woman he had known for more than two years,” Ms.^e God. Could Fadila have gotten lost in the woods and died after an accidental fall? Unlikely, according to investigators.

The chronology, at the heart of the investigation, must still be the subject of numerous verifications. The fluctuating memories of the participants in this Halloween evening make it difficult to reliably establish the course of events. During these festivities, François Perez, from whose home a large quantity of cannabis was seized, had consumed numerous drugs, including cocaine. He says he has no memory of an argument with Fadila.

Tuesday, December 17, the gendarmes carried out new searches around the home of this former soldier taken from the Foix remand center. Based on information, the gendarmes wanted to verify the existence of underground galleries in which the suspect could have hidden Fadila’s body. After several hours of searching, the soldiers found nothing conclusive even though the area remains difficult to access due to the latest snowfall.

Among the relatives and friends of “Fafa”, there is still incomprehension. If François Perez was known to have outbursts of anger, no one could have suspected that Fadila could be in danger by staying with him. Mother and grandmother, “Fafa” used to meet her friends in the mountains, on this “witches’ plateau”, where she stayed from time to time in a caravan. His 32-year-old daughter recently filed a civil suit. “She wants to know what happened to her mother,” says her lawyer, M^e Raynaud De Lage.

The request for the release of François Perez could be studied in the coming days and a decision is expected, at the latest, Tuesday December 24. In the event of refusal, his lawyer has the possibility of appealing to the investigating chamber which would study the request at the beginning of January.