What happened to Magali Blandin?
This 42-year-old woman, mother of four, has not given any sign of life since Thursday, February 11.
A judicial investigation in search of the causes of this disappearance, entrusted to an examining magistrate of Rennes, was opened this Monday morning in order to continue the investigations.
We take stock of the investigation:
No news since February 11
Magali Blandin, a specialist educator, disappeared on Thursday 11 February.
That day, she has an appointment at 10 am with her psychologist in Pleumeleuc (Ille-et-Vilaine).
But she does not return to this consultation.
Also this Thursday, February 11, Magali Blandin wrote "
a draft message by email to her husband concerning childcare during the coming weekend, message following a difficult telephone contact with her children the day before
", specified Friday the Rennes prosecutor's office in a press release.
The mother of the family then leaves, alone and on foot, her accommodation around 10 am “
despite the difficult climatic conditions of this morning
”.
His trace is lost a few moments later.
"
Telephone elements (confirmed by the action of the tracking dogs) made it possible to retrace his path to the north of the town where his track was lost at the end of the morning in a bocage area located not far from the stream. the Garun
”, according to the prosecution.
According to
France Bleu
, the mother loved to hike and the paths were still snowy that day.
Unsuccessful searches
The disappearance of Magali Blandin is reported on Friday February 12, at 5:04 p.m., by a colleague.
This colleague was herself alerted by the school, which noted that Magali Blandin had not come to pick up her children.
In the process, an investigation into the causes of a worrying disappearance of an adult is opened and entrusted to the research brigade of Montfort-sur-Meu (Ille-et-Vilaine) - town where Magali Blandin resides -, under the authority of the Rennes prosecutor's office.
Saturday February 13, a call for witnesses is also launched.
A call for witnesses to find Magali Blandin in Montfort-sur-Meu (Ille-et-Vilaine).
DAMIEN MEYER / AFP
Over the past few days, numerous searches coordinated by the commander of the Ille-et-Vilaine gendarmerie group have been carried out.
After a big fight bringing together 300 people, Tuesday February 16, 150 gendarmes were mobilized, Thursday February 18, in Montfort-sur-Meu (Ille-et-Vilaine), with the support of five divers and a helicopter.
"
This research made it possible to excavate several areas with a total area of 10 km2 located in the town of Montfort-sur-Meu as well as to probe 10 km of two rivers (the Garun and the Meu), 7.5 km from their banks and a dozen static water points
, ”the Rennes parquet floor detailed on Friday.
The search also continued this weekend.
In vain.
What are the leads at this stage?
"
It is a very worrying disappearance
", underlined Wednesday February 17 the prosecutor of Rennes, Philippe Astruc, during a press conference on the balance sheet of security in the department.
“
We list all the hypotheses that can be considered.
It goes from the disappearance (voluntary), to the most fatal hypotheses, the accident, the suicide
”, he detailed.
“
We have a mother who did not go to pick up her 4 children when they left school.
Today, it is very clear, we are trying to find this person and we are working across the spectrum.
We have substantial traces until Thursday.
And on Fridays she does not go to school, it is a very worrying sign
”, added the magistrate.
A context of tension within the couple
"
The investigation made it possible to specify the context of this disappearance and to collect precise factual elements which remain however still incomplete
", specified the press release of the Rennes public prosecutor's office released Friday.
The prosecution evokes "
a period of separation following the decision of Ms. Blandin to leave the family home located in Montauban-de-Bretagne (Ille-et-Vilaine) in the first days of September 2020
".
Following this separation, Magali Blandin had taken an apartment for rent in Montfort-sur-Meu (Ille-et-Vilaine).
Another element: Magali Blandin had filed a complaint for domestic violence on September 3, 2020, reporting several occasional episodes during married life.
"
However, she declared on this occasion to have been able to show herself violent
", specifies the prosecution.
The investigation was closed without follow-up ("
insufficiently characterized offense
") by the Rennes prosecutor's office on September 4, 2020 following the hearing in police custody of her husband.
According to the prosecution, the investigation also highlighted "
a context of tension within the couple linked in particular to the management of household resources
".
"
Ms. Blandin initiated on October 19, 2020 a procedure before the Family Judge of Rennes so that it is ruled quickly on provisional measures concerning the four children of the couple born in 2006, 2008, 2013 and 2017"
, writes the prosecution.
Before continuing: “
At the initial hearing on January 4, 2021, a referral request was made and granted.
As part of this procedure, the hearing of the two elders was requested.
She intervened at the beginning of February and reflected a climate of strong tension with Ms. Blandin
”.
Checks made with Magali Blandin's husband did not reveal, as it stands, any element associating him with this disappearance or suggesting his presence in Montfort-sur-Meu at the time of the facts, specifies the prosecution.
For the time being, the causes of Magali Blandin's disappearance therefore remain an enigma.
