Police in Paris suspect a botched kidnapping attempt led to the fatal throat slashing of a 12-year-old girl whose body was found stuffed into a plastic crate late Friday night. The middle school student, named only Lola in French newspapers, was last seen after class on Friday in the 19th arrondissement, known for its leafy parks and residential apartment blocks.
Lola’s parents raised the alarm first with the head of the kindergarten school next door, where the girl sometimes stopped to play with the youngsters, and later with police. Cops searched surveillance camera footage to determine that Lola had, in fact, come home from school Friday, but had been lured to the basement of her building by a woman.
According to Le Parisien newspaper, the footage was also seen by the father and neighbors who gathered to search for the girl. “We see Lola inside,” a neighbor who saw the video along with the girl’s father told the paper. “But the little girl is not alone. She is accompanied by a woman in her twenties. The lady makes a gesture to her as if she were telling her to come.” The neighbor added that “Lola didn’t look reassured at all.”
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Police in Paris say the same woman seen talking to Lola in the entrance of the building was picked up again on CCTV footage leaving the building struggling to pull a plastic storage crate that appeared to be filled with colorful fabrics several hours after Lola entered the building. Two men who are not residents of the building were also seen leaving a short time later.
At around 11 p.m. Friday, a homeless man summoned police to say there was a strange plastic crate and two pieces of carry-on style suitcases where he normally bedded down for the night in the courtyard next to the building where the girl lived. He is thought to have opened the crate, which led to the grim discovery.
All four—the woman, the two men and the homeless man—were taken into custody Saturday morning after police tracked them on the city’s substantial CCTV surveillance system.
Police told reporters the young girl was still wearing her cut-up white jeans and no jacket despite the cold autumn chill and that her throat had been cut several times. Her arms and legs were shackled with cellophane tape, which was found in the basement of the building, likely before she was murdered, according to blood splatters on the tape.
An autopsy will be conducted over the weekend to determine her exact cause of death since the knife wounds did not appear to sever her jugular vein, according to Paris Match.
The four people in custody have not been charged, but are under investigation for the murder of a child under the age of 15. Police expect to release more information on Sunday.
