She hadn't heard from her for over two weeks. Morgane, the 13-year-old schoolgirl who disappeared at the end of November in Côtes-d'Armor, was found alive in Coutances (Manche), announced the Saint-Brieuc public prosecutor on Tuesday, December 10. The man who hosted him was taken into police custody, said Nicolas Heitz. Here is what we know about the circumstances that led to the teenager being found.
Morgane was in a home for young workers
Morgane disappeared on November 25 in Pabu, near Guingamp (Côtes-d'Armor). She had left the family home, but had never taken the school bus that was to take her to college that day. An investigation into a “disturbing disappearance” was then opened. Morgane had argued with her parents during the weekend before her disappearance, about her excessive use of social networks. As the prosecutor declared during a press conference on December 2, in the house, a “crumpled paper was found” in a wastebasket, on which was written: “Dad, mom, sorry, I’m leaving”. According to several of her friends, the young girl, who had never run away, had “posted a story, since deleted, over the weekend to say that she would not come to class on Monday”. Then she no longer gave any sign of life.
The Saint-Brieuc prosecutor finally announced on Tuesday that the teenager, who will be 14 years old on December 23, “could be located at the beginning of the week, in Coutances” and was found Tuesday morning by the gendarmes of the Rennes research section. “She was in a hostel for young workers,” said the magistrate. The Côtes d'Armor gendarmerie clarified, on Facebook, that the teenager was “healthy”.
Morgane “will be quickly examined by a doctor and will be heard by the investigators”, commented Nicolas Heitz, without giving details at this stage on his state of health.
The 21-year-old young man who hosted him placed in police custody
Morgane was hosted by a young man of 21, born in Rennes, said the prosecutor. He was taken into custody “of the charge of arrest, kidnapping, sequestration of a minor under fifteen years of age”announced Nicolas Heitz in his press release. This is not a real kidnapping, but rather a “psychological constraint”because Morgane was not detained or deprived of her liberty, a source close to the investigation told France Télévisions.
Significant resources mobilized to find the teenager
Road checks, door-to-door visits, drones, dog teams… Significant resources had been deployed to find the schoolgirl. On the morning of November 27, a helicopter flew over the area of his disappearance, while around twenty gendarmes searched the surrounding woods. Around 800 volunteers, supervised by the gendarmerie and civil protection, took part in a hunt in Pabu, four days after his departure. According to a source close to the investigation, information received on Monday, according to which the teenager had been seen in the South-West with a young man, finally made it possible to locate her in Normandy.
