Estelle, Maddie, Antoine and the others

Georges Moréas Police Etcetera 18/01/09

The information in the press about a new lead in the investigation into the disappearance of little Estelle Mouzin, even before the facts are verified, interests a great many people. Some have reacted violently on the sites of the journalists who have related the information. Thus in Libération, we can read: "That article risks being Estelle's death sentence - Well done the telly and the newspapers! Whether this girl is Estelle or not you are signing her death warrant in publishing that photo - What a lack of professionalism! It's shameful."

Or again in Le Monde: "If she is still alive, this information is scandelous...I'm stunned by the irresponsibility of AFP for producing the news item about it."

(* Le Figaro)

As for Estelle's father, he was astonished that journalists were aware before the investigative measures were implemented. Adding, however: "This confirms the ongoing investigation and the ideas held by the new Versailles PJ director, during the annual conference of the Estelle Association on January 10th in Guermantes." In fact, commissioner Philippe Bugeaud, at that time, referred to the thousands of statements still in the process of being checked and also "millions and millions of telephone checks" (In the days that followed the child's disappearance, all communication exchanges in the area were looked at - Something never done before).

Remember, Estelle was abducted on January 9th 2003 (Read here) on her way home from school in Guermantes, in Seine-et-Marne. I don't think an investigation has ever put so many resources into operation. Alas, without success until now.

On May 3rd 2007, in the south of Portugal, it was a little English girl aged 4 years, Madeleine McCann, called Maddie, who disappeared from her bedroom while her parents were at a restaurant. In the months that followed, the investigators assembled a stack of suspicions against the parents, in a tense atmosphere between Great Britain and Portugal. So much so that the police officer heading the investigation finally slammed the door. (Read here) The parents were let off the hook and the case archived. Now, it is private detectives who are continuing the investigation and a reward of 2.5 million pounds is offered to, "anyone who gives information that contributes to finding Madeleine alive and returning her safely to Rothley in the Leicestershire area."

On September 11th 2008, little Antoine, aged 6 and a half years, disappeared from the family home in Issoire, in Puy-de-Dôme, while his mother and her partner were at a restaurant a few hundred metres away. Both have a previous record and the investigators are focusing their investigation on them. (Read here) Sébastien, the mother's partner, is in prison on a criminal charge and the mother, Alexandrine, aged 23, is the object of permanent surveillance. At time of writing, she is on extended remand for driving without a licence. She denies this. Following this arrest, Le Figaro outdid itself with an article whose very title makes my hair stand on end: "Antoine's disappearance: the noose tightens around the mother."

This young mother is, undoubtedly, a drop-out, which doesn't make this child-killing or an outlet for the press.

She may be guilty, but if there is the least proof against her, she will spend a long time in prison.

Thousands of people disappear every year, men, women, children. Most of them are found, but for one or two children, there is no news. You can imagine the parents' anguish.

Three missing children:

- Estelle: five years later, the investigators are still active.

- Maddie: private investigators and money, lots of money.

- Antoine...

(* )Le Figaro 17/01/09)

The Parisien reveals that investigators have discovered the photograph of a teenager resembling the young girl, who disappeared in Guermantes in 2003, on an Estonian pornography site. Police officers are going to Estonia.

If Estelle Mouzin, that little ten year-old girl who disappeared six years ago from her village of Guermantes, is still alive, is she being held in Estonia? French police officers are to go to that Baltic state very soon, reveals the Parisien. Alerted by an internet user, investigators discovered on a pornographic site, hosted in the United States, but created in Estonia, the photograph of a naked teeenager who resembles Estelle in a way that is troubling. "The internet user who contacted us saw this face and immediately made the connection with the young Estelle Mouzin," someone close to the case revealed to the daily newspaper.

The first work on the photo from the site surprised the police officers. On a computer, they superimposed images of Estelle on the photo of the teenager and observed that the facial proportions seemed to correspond to those of the young schoolgirl, who disappeared on January 9th 2003 on the way between her school and her home. The Central Directorate of the PJ, (DCPJ) placed the paedophile site under surveillance. Sophie Combes, the investigating judge in charge of the case, sent two international rogatory letters. The police are going to interrogate the site's creators to try to find out more about the identities of the teenagers presented.