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Euro hunt for French girl ends in her hometown

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Euro hunt for French girl ends in her hometown
Europe-wide search for missing French girl ends in her hometown. Photo: AFP

A Europe-wide hunt for a missing 15-year-old French girl ended in her hometown on Friday where she was located with a 48-year-old family friend who was suspected of abducting her. Police believed the friend was suicidal.

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A 15-year-old French girl whose disappearance had triggered a Europe-wide alert was found safe and sound on Friday in a train station and the much older man she disappeared with was arrested, judicial sources said.

Laureelen Wavelet, 15, had not been seen since she left her school in the northern city of Lens on April 10 in the company of Christophe Lamarre, 48.

Her father, Sylvain Wavelet, was informed on Friday that the teenager and Lamarre had been apprehended in Lens. Lamarre was taken into custody and was expected to appear before a judge later Friday on charges of abducting a minor.

Fears for Laureelen's safety had been fuelled by indications that Lamarre, a family friend who had been teaching her to play the guitar, was in a suicidal state.

The former heroin addict had quit his job two days before disappearing with the girl and had left letters suggesting he was bent on killing himself, according to Laureelen's parents.

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