Since the end of the Christmas holidays, she had decided that she had become a big girl, that it was now time for her to come home from school alone. A week later, on January 14, 1991, just 19 years ago, Anaïs Marcelli disappeared on returning to his mother's home in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin) after having done his homework.
Battues are organized, the Rhône-Rhine canal is dredged. The little girl's face, square hair and mischievous look, appears on disappearance notices. "Anaïs, if you can see me and if you can hear me, try to contact us. You will not be reproached. We are waiting for you, ”said Patrick Marcelli, the father of the ten-year-old girl, to the television news the day after her disappearance.
Alas, despite the great efforts of the PJ of Mulhouse, the researches yield nothing. The body of Anaïs will be found on April 21, 1991 by a couple of hikers at the Col de Bussang, about forty kilometers from Mulhouse. She was strangled, confirms the autopsy.
Nineteen years later, Patrick Marcelli's hope of finding the criminal "gradually diminishes": "The years pass and I realize that it will be harder and harder to know what may have happened ".
The grandfather heard at the retirement home
The past year has unfortunately strengthened the conviction of the girl's father. On January 29, 2019, Me Thierry Moser, the lawyer of the father of Anais, however succeeds in relaunching the case. Two examining magistrates are appointed, in particular to explore the family track.
In recent weeks, these judges have again questioned Bernard Riedweg, the adoptive father of the mother of Anais, already suspected in the 1990s. Carried out in the nursing home where he now lives, his hearing did not give more of results than his 1996 police custody.
"Unfortunately, he is over 80 years old and seems to have lost his memory," says Moser. In his hearing, he said everything and anything, but did not seem to remember the facts. "His interview did not shed any new light on this case," confirms a judicial source. A "disappointment" for Patrick Marcelli, who would have liked "that he could be implicated or totally excluded from this affair".
"Very disturbing" elements
Since the start of the investigation, the profile of Bernard Riedweg, the adoptive father of Anaïs' mother, has questioned the investigators. He has no alibi and, above all, has a troubled past. The PJ of Mulhouse discovered that he had abused the mother of Anais during his adolescence. Photos of her naked adoptive daughter were even discovered in her office during a search.
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Placed in police custody in December 1996, the man admits having "shown his erect sex" to his adopted daughter "so that she touches him, to satisfy his curiosity". But don't say anything about Anaïs.
"He was obviously part of the tracks, says an investigator who followed the case. His background inevitably raises questions, but nothing was ever enough to hang him up despite very disturbing elements. "
"I'm afraid we will never know the truth"
In this case, several journalists received, in the 1990s, anonymous letters claiming the murder of Anaïs as well as the abduction of a young girl in 1974. The author of these writings expresses his attraction for it. urophilia, confirmed by the victim in 1974.
Before the PJ, Bernard Riedweg will recognize his interest in this practice in the context of his sexual relations. “Inevitably, elements seem suspect to me, confides the father of Anais, who never gave up his fight to know the truth. He has had fluctuating statements, his schedule does not match what he said ... Of course, even if time has passed, it is disappointing to know that he does not remember anything. "
"We had hope, we were counting a lot on hearing Mr. Riedweg and I admit to being disappointed to see that he remembers nothing," admits also Moser. I'm afraid we will never know the truth. "
Fragments of unknown DNA
Justice does not abandon the Anaïs Marcelli case, however. The investigators had thus collected, on a vest found near the body of the little girl, fragments of an unknown DNA and which does not correspond to that of Anais' grandfather. "Scientific investigations are continuing," says Edwige Roux-Morizot, the prosecutor from Mulhouse. DNA traces collected at the time are being exploited and it is hoped that new technological capabilities will make it possible to achieve a result. We are waiting for a return, the investigation is not closed. "
Despite the hope that declines with the passage of time, Patrick Marcelli appreciates "this last burst of justice, which does its job with great seriousness, even if that does not succeed for the moment ... Anyway, my conviction is made for many years ... "