On January 14, 1991, Anaïs Marcelli was returning from her school on rue du Nordfeld, in the city center of Mulhouse, when she disappeared. Despite extensive searches, the little girl remained untraceable until a walker found her body three months later, on April 21, 1991, at the Bussang pass, about forty kilometers away.
The little girl had been dead for a long time. His body was hidden by a pile of stones, in a well-preserved condition due to the cold winter temperatures. The medical examiner had established a probable death by strangulation with bare hands, without sexual violence.
“I remember it like it was yesterday”
“It was a Monday, January 14, 1991. I remember it as if it were yesterday, especially since the day before, on Sunday, I had gotten a little angry with Anaïs over a homework issue. She was not happy and told me that it was the worst day of her life,” recalls Martine Merklen, her mother, now 71 years old.
“That evening, I told myself that I had a little head start (after work) and that I could go and meet him. But ultimately, I had paperwork to do and I told myself it was going to happen… I should have listened to myself, listened to my instinct. I think about it often.”
“Troubling contradictions”
From Anaïs, Martine Merklen keeps her smile and a heart-shaped box: “I put lots of little things in it that she liked. Anaïs was luminous, loved things that were beautiful, decoration. She was very flirtatious. She loved watching television and even had a favorite film, “Le Grand Chemin”, with Richard Bohringer and Anémone. It’s funny, on the film poster, there is a little girl, she looks like Anaïs. Anaïs is still inside me, I talk to her as if she were there. This is my way of bringing it to life.”
The investigation initially focused on the granddaughter’s grandfather, Martine Merklen’s father-in-law. The prosecution then mentioned “the disturbing contradictions regarding the grandfather’s schedule”, and noted the “troubled relationships which existed between Anaïs’ mother and her stepfather (touching), while she was elderly 12 or 13 years old. “The elements collected denote perverse sexual behavior of this close relative of Anaïs.” However, the suspect, placed in police custody, had never been indicted. He died in 2022.
-Francis Heaulme, Michel Fourniret…
The case was dismissed in 1997, the investigation reopened in 2015. Many leads had been launched, none had come to fruition: Francis Heaulme, Michel Fourniret, a Dutch pedophile named Michel Stockx, Jean-Pierre Treiber. .. Many suspects had been considered by investigators. In July 2022, the Mulhouse public prosecutor’s office relinquished the case in favor of the new national jurisdiction specializing in unresolved cases, in Nanterre.
“I would not like to leave without knowing the truth,” continues Martine Merklen. “The file which was taken up in Nanterre is a new hope. I met the investigating judge and there was a view of the premises last July. She came to Alsace with investigators. It was the first time that I returned to rue du Nordfeld and to the Col de Bussang. I didn’t think it would be this painful… Like it was yesterday.”
“She would never have wanted me to give up”
“Today, I know that with new investigation methods, we may be able to close doors and find the culprit. For my part, I remain convinced that there are things to look for from Michel Fourniret. In connection with the Nanterre judicial center, Martine Merklen’s lawyer, Aurélie Jaafar, obtained a telephone number for a call for witnesses (0800 35 83 35) and an email address ([email protected] ).
“I always told myself that I would never survive this and yet, 34 years later, I am here, undoubtedly carried by Anaïs. She would never have wanted me to give up,” concludes Ms. Merklen.
(afp)
