Lucie, 16 years old, had been missing since Sunday February 4, 2024 from Vavaincourt (Meuse). The Bar-le-Duc public prosecutor’s office opened a judicial investigation on Friday February 16 for “research into the causes of the disappearance” of the teenager. Sunday February 18, The Parisian revealed that the girl had been found “in good health”according to Sofian Saboulard, the public prosecutor of Bar-le-Duc. Lucie was hiding “in the storage box of a sofa bed”in an apartment in the Ligny-en-Barrois area, about twenty kilometers from Vavaincourt, where he lives. The apartment in which the young girl was located had already been located as part of the preliminary investigation opened by the prosecution, after Lucie’s disappearance was reported by her parents. “The technical investigations tended to demonstrate, at least sometimes, the potential presence of Lucie in this apartment”assured Sofian Saboulard to our colleagues.
“I’ll be back soon”
It was thanks to the intervention of a dog specialized in detecting human life, which identifies the presence of an individual by heat, that the teenager was found in the apartment in the Ligny-en- Barrois. The public prosecutor of Bar-le-Duc indicated that the disappearance of the 16-year-old girl was “voluntary”specifying that she had been interviewed by the National Gendarmerie.
Indeed, three days after the disappearance of the teenager was reported, Wednesday February 7, her mother received a letter in which Lucie assured that she was well. “Mom, it’s Lucie. I’m fine and I’m safe. […] I’ll be back soon”it was written on the piece of paper. The teenager had already run away in the past, notably in January 2024. She was found at one of her friends’ homes after running away and turning off her cell phone. To find the 16-year-old girl, dozens of interviews were carried out, in addition to home visits and video surveillance used, explained the Bar-le-Duc prosecutor’s office on Friday February 16 in a press release. An investigation group was working exclusively on the disappearance of the teenager.