His parishioners are plunged into worry and incomprehension.
Father Christophe Guégan, priest of the commune of Ploërmel (Morbihan), has not been found since Thursday January 18, reports France 3 Bretagne.
“The Bishop of Vannes, Monseigneur Centène and the diocese, in conjunction with the family, are in deep concern and are experiencing this ordeal in prayer,” indicated the diocese of Vannes, to which Father Guégan depends, in a press release.
Absent from a mass
The alert was given Thursday afternoon.
Father Christophe Guégan was last seen on Wednesday evening, in a town an hour from Ploërmel.
“He arrived as usual (…) at the community of the Dominicans of the Holy Spirit of Berné, to celebrate mass there on Thursday,” said the diocese of Vannes in its press release.
But the next day, the priest did not show up in the morning to celebrate the religious service.
Such an unusual absence was quickly “considered worrying”, underlines the diocese.
The sisters noticed the absence of his car in the morning, specifies Le Télégramme.
“On Thursday January 18, 2024 at the beginning of the afternoon, the gendarmerie soldiers of the Faouët brigade were requested by the Dominicans of the abbey located in Berné”, confirmed the squadron leader Sylvain Giraud of the company of Pontivy gendarmerie.
Research was then carried out by the gendarmes of the Faouët brigade community and an investigation into a “disturbing disappearance” was opened.
His car found about fifteen kilometers away
The gendarmes first carried out a localization of Father Christophe Guégan’s phone.
The last demarcation led investigators around Locunolé, in neighboring Finistère, around fifteen kilometers from Berné.
“A helicopter from the aerial section of the Rennes gendarmerie,” notes Le Télégramme.
But before it was dispatched, the 55-year-old man's vehicle was found Thursday afternoon around 3:30 p.m. in the town of Guilligomarc'h.
No occupant on board and no trace of the priest around.
The gendarmes therefore headed towards the neighboring paths, not far from the Ellé.
Their colleagues from the Pontivy and Quimperlé companies were also mobilized to try to find Father Guégan, as well as a dog dispatched from the surveillance and intervention platoon of the gendarmerie (Psig) of Lorient.
The helicopter sent from Rennes finally flew over the area, without result.
“The dog led the gendarmes to the edges of the river, which was particularly tumultuous at this time,” according to squadron leader Sylvain Giraud.
A specialized dog arrived Friday morning from Rennes to help continue the search, although it was no longer fruitful.
However, the animal confirmed, as the day before, the direction of the river.