An Amber Alert was issued on Friday evening. Considerable search resources are being deployed to find the partner of Célya’s mother, who is suspected of kidnapping the child

Célya, a 6-year-old girl, whose disappearance in Seine-Maritime triggered the “Alerte enlèvement” alert on Friday evening, has been found dead. Her body was discovered in a wood near the vehicle of her mother’s partner, the main suspect in the abduction, the Rouen public prosecutor announced on Friday night. “Major gendarmerie resources are currently being deployed” to find the suspect, who is “still at large”, said prosecutor Frédéric Teillet. He urged the residents of Saint-Martin-de-l’If (Seine-Maritime), where the tragedy took place, to “remain very vigilant” and “anyone who can help with the investigation or arrest is asked to call 17”.

The previous day, an abduction alert had been triggered at around 9.30pm. “Célya, aged 6, European type, medium-length dark brown hair, brown eyes, wearing a black unicorn dress, 1.10m tall, disappeared from her home in Saint-Martin-de-l’If”, around 20km north-west of Rouen, shortly before 6pm, the document stated. “She may have been abducted by her mother’s partner: a 42-year-old man, 1.80 m tall, very thin, brown hair, blue eyes, driving a navy blue Golf car, registration number 7189 WM 76”, the gendarmes continued.

Célya’s mother hospitalised

More than a hundred gendarmes from Seine-Maritime and neighbouring departments, as well as mobile gendarmes, a dog-handling team and a helicopter, were mobilised. “Just after 10pm, a local resident who had been informed of the abduction alert was able to locate the suspected kidnapper’s vehicle. The gendarmes’ search then led to the discovery of the child’s lifeless body in a wood near the vehicle”, said Frédéric Teillet.

Célya’s mother called the gendarmerie at around 6pm to report that her partner had attacked her with a knife, a source at the gendarmerie told AFP. She said she had managed to get out of the house, but that her partner, who is not the child’s father, was still inside with the little girl. “Célya’s mother, who was the victim of the initial violence, is currently in hospital but her life is not in danger”, said the Rouen public prosecutor.