Fifteen days after disappearing in Vavaincourt (Meuse), Lucie, 16, was found in good health, hidden
“in the storage box of a sofa bed”
in an apartment located twenty kilometers from the family home.
The announcement was made on Sunday February 18 by the public prosecutor of Bar-le-Duc, Sofian Saboulard.
The magistrate clarified that the disappearance was voluntary.
The Bar-le-Duc public prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation on Friday February 16 to
“search for the causes of the disappearance”
of this teenager.
The apartment where Lucie was hidden, located in the Ligny-en-Barrois area, had already been targeted as part of the preliminary investigation opened by the prosecution after the teenager's parents reported her disappearance.
“The technical investigations tended to demonstrate (...) the potential presence of Lucie in this apartment
,” said prosecutor Sofian Saboulard.
A dog specialized in detecting human life, which can identify the presence by heat, intervened in the apartment, allowing the teenager to be found.
A few days after the disappearance, the young girl's mother received a letter, posted on February 7, which included the following note:
“Mom, it's Lucie, I'm fine and I'm safe (...) I come back soon"
.
Dozens of hearings were carried out, home visits undertaken and video surveillance used as part of the investigation, the Bar-le-Duc prosecutor's office indicated on Friday in a press release.
An investigation group had been formed and was investigating exclusively this disappearance.
The minor had already run away in the past, notably in January, when she was found at a friend's house after running away and turning off her cell phone.
She is currently being questioned by the National Gendarmerie.