“
I think of Vanessa every day.
I still hope to see her again, that's what keeps me going
, ”says Annick to
Le Figaro
.
His daughter, Vanessa, mysteriously disappeared on Tuesday December 6, 2016 in Langrune-sur-Mer (Calvados).
This 37-year-old banking advisor had just bought a house on the outskirts of Caen, in which she lived alone.
To read also "I will not let go, I want to know what happened to my daughter": 8 years after her disappearance, Julie Michel remains nowhere to be found
At the time of her disappearance, Vanessa was living with her mother, in Langrune-sur-Mer, 200 meters from the Channel. The thirty-something is then on sick leave.
“I had her at home because she was in pain,”
says Annick, very close to her daughter. From October 2016, Vanessa begins to have intense pain in the pelvis.
“She had trouble walking, driving, going down the stairs. It had become very difficult for her, so she came to the house, ”
recalls Annick. Vanessa was hospitalized at the Caen University Hospital on November 7, 8 and 9, 2016 but the illness from which she suffered remains a mystery.
“The teacher told him to go see a psychiatrist. She fell back on different osteopaths. We had no idea what his pain was related to,
”continues Annick.
It is 7:30 am this Tuesday, December 6, 2016 when Annick catches Vanessa leaving the house. To his surprise.
“She never went out in the morning at that time. When I got up she was talking to herself and saying: 'do I put on my coat?' I replied: 'No Vanessa, you are not going out, it is dark,' ”
says Annick. Vanessa leaves all the same, without keys, without money and without her bag, which she never let go. "
I'll take a walk, I'll be back,
" she said to her mother. These are her last words: she will never come back. From the day of the disappearance, at 12 noon, the gendarmerie goes to Annick's place. The dogs leave on the right of the house towards the sea before stopping at a pontoon.
Vanessa Melet on a beach in Tunisia.
Family of Vanessa Melet.
The Caen public prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation in February 2017. “
The hypothesis of the intervention of a third party cannot be ruled out, and one track deserves to be reworked in depth.
This is why I decided to open a judicial investigation
”, declared at the time the former prosecutor of the Republic of Caen, Carole Étienne.
But the disappearance of Vanessa Melet remains an enigma to this day.
For five years, Annick and Michel, Vanessa's stepfather, have been fighting to find out the truth. “
Every day we do research ourselves
,” they explain. They denounce a botched investigation by the gendarmerie and want the file to be transferred to the criminal police of Caen. “
We saw the Caen gendarmes for the last time in May 2020. They summoned us and wanted us to recognize that Vanessa had committed suicide,
” explains Annick. Even though Vanessa was psychologically fragile because of her unexplained pain - she had also cut off all contact with her friends since November 26 - her mother never believed in the suicide thesis.
“Vanessa was happy and appreciated by everyone.
She was still in a level mood and had a lot of humor.
She was happy to return to work at the beginning of January, ”she
explains.
Summoned by the judge in charge of the case in January 2019, Annick will be mistreated and even suspected of having deleted her daughter.
"
The judge has since reconsidered his words but I cried and trembled for two months,
" she says.
SEE ALSO -
Age, profile, indices: the criteria for a worrying disappearance
A man suspected by Vanessa's family
Annick is convinced that someone was waiting for Vanessa outside when she went out on Tuesday, December 6, 2016. “
She couldn't walk. Someone picked her up at 7:30 am and she got into a vehicle,
”she thinks. She suspects a doctor - a psychotherapist-hypnotist practicing near Caen -, whom Vanessa had consulted on Sunday, December 4, 2016, two days before her disappearance. “
Vanessa was in great pain and was afraid of going back to the hospital. My sister found this guy,
”says Annick. The first consultation lasts particularly long, which surprises Annick.
“Vanessa was locked in the office for 2 hours. We were waiting for him in the waiting room. She came out of there very tired and she was no longer speaking
», Remembers Annick.
The next day, Monday, December 5, 2016, Vanessa has an appointment with a physiotherapist at 4.30 p.m. to which she goes with her mother and her aunt. On leaving, half an hour later, Annick sees the psychotherapist-hypnotist of the day before: he is in his car, a light gray Renault Espace, parked near the exit of the physiotherapist. “
We looked at each other with my sister and we said to each other: 'what the hell is he doing here?'. He was the opposite of his cabinet,
”says Annick. Another element that intrigued Vanessa's mother: there were four telephone exchanges between this psychotherapist-hypnotist and his daughter on Monday, December 5 around noon, a few hours before he was seen leaving the physiotherapist. Annick became aware of these exchanges by going through Vanessa's telephone bills.
Asked by Annick the day Vanessa disappeared on the content of the 2am session on Sunday, December 4, 2016, the psychotherapist-hypnotist replied: "
I did not succeed in hypnotizing her, she was not receptive
" . Finally, the last detail that troubles Annick: the psychotherapist-hypnotist called Vanessa's family at 12:02 p.m. on Wednesday, December 7, 2016 to find out if the young woman had returned. Vanessa was indeed supposed to have an appointment with him at 12 noon at his office that day. "
Why didn't he call her on her cell phone since he had her number?"
», Asks Annick.
In March 2021, the investigating judge sent a letter to Annick and Michel in which he explains that he is ready to hear their questions but they have not heard from them since.
“
We tell ourselves that Vanessa is somewhere anyway.
It is complicated for us not to know and we wait for justice to give us answers,
”conclude Annick and Michel.
Contacted by
Le Figaro
, the gendarmerie tells us that "as
this is an ongoing investigation, the only person authorized to communicate remains the judge
".
Despite several reminders, the Caen court did not respond to our requests.
[This article was originally published on November 26, 2021]