A nine-year-old girl has been found dead in a wood shortly after being snatched in front of her mother from a playground in the French port town of Calais.
The girl, named only as Chloe, was playing with a friend when a man “appeared and grabbed her, forcing her to get into a red car”, prosecutors said.
Police were alerted and search teams were dispatched, one of which found the girl’s body 90 minutes later.
A 38-year-old man was arrested near the scene. Sources close to the investigation said he had admitted to raping and murdering the girl.
The man, a Polish national with a long criminal history, had been banned from French territory after being released from prison a few months ago, where he had been serving time for extortion and aggravated robbery.
Flags in Calais flew at half mast and residents planned a march in memory of the dead girl.
“It’s horrific,” said a woman outside Chloe’s school, where a counselling unit has been set up.
“My son knew her, he didn’t sleep last night, he knows he will never see her again. I can’t even imagine what the parents are going through.”
The Guardian