The worry faded.
Lucie, a 16-year-old teenager who had disappeared since February 4 in Vavaincourt (Meuse), was found “in good health”, announced Sunday the public prosecutor of Bar-le-Duc, Sofian Saboulard.
The teenager was discovered hiding “in the storage box of a sofa bed” in an apartment in the Ligny-en-Barrois area, around twenty kilometers from Vavaincourt, the magistrate said.
The Bar-le-Duc public prosecutor's office opened a judicial investigation on Friday to "research the causes of the disappearance" of this teenager.
The apartment where Lucie was hidden had already been targeted as part of the preliminary investigation opened by the prosecution quickly after the teenager's parents reported her disappearance.
“The technical investigations tended to demonstrate, at least sometimes, the potential presence of Lucie in this apartment,” explained Sofian Saboulard.
“Voluntary disappearance”
A dog specialized in detecting human life, which can identify the presence by heat, intervened in the apartment, allowing the teenager to be found.
It was a “voluntary disappearance”, said the prosecutor.
She is currently being questioned by the National Gendarmerie.
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'll be back soon ".
The minor had already run away in the past, notably in January, when she was found at a friend's house after having fled and turned off her cell phone.
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.