PERPIGNAN, France: A French mother who issued a tearful appeal for her missing five-year-old daughter has told investigators the girl is dead after she was taken in for questioning along with her partner, her lawyer said.
Cecile Bourgeon, 25, told investigators in May that her daughter, Fiona, disappeared while she was napping in a park.
But her lawyer, Gilles-Jean Portejoie, said Wednesday that she had now told police that her daughter was dead, her body buried close to the city of Clermont-Ferrand in central France.
News of the girl’s disappearance was met with anguish in France.
Bourgeon, then pregnant, had launched an emotional appeal, saying her daughter had been playing with another of her daughters, two, when she went missing.
Support groups were set up on Facebook and marches organized after the disappearance.
Bourgeon and her partner, Berkane Maklouf, were taken in for questioning on Tuesday by police in the southern city of Perpignan, where they now live, Portejoie said.
Three people close to the couple have also been held for questioning at Clermont-Ferrand.
Bourgeon’s lawyer Portejoie said that Fiona “died accidentally following punches that were not delivered by (her mother) personally.”
He said Bourgeon was expected to undergo further questioning.
Mother of ‘missing’ French girl says daughter is dead
Mother of ‘missing’ French girl says daughter is dead
