It’s a murder investigation and rape of a minor under 15 years old which was opened by the Charleville-Mézières public prosecutor’s office following the discovery of the lifeless body of Loana, 10 years old, in the cellar of a building in the city center of Sedan, in the Ardennes. The little girl disappeared on Tuesday October 17, 2023, around 5:30 p.m., when she got off the school bus which was bringing her back from Vrigne-aux-Bois college, a fifteen-minute drive from the center of Sedan. Following a disappearance notice relayed by several local media, a resident alerted the police and indicated that she had seen the child enter a building in downtown Sedan, rue Saint-Michel. It was in this building that the police made the horrifying discovery of the girl’s body, naked and covered with a sheet, in the cellar of an apartment in the building. Immediately, the occupant of the accommodation in question was arrested. This is’a 57-year-old man who is only known to the police for common law crimes. In other words, he is not on the sex offender file.
Disjointed statements during his custody
During a search carried out on Thursday October 19, 2023 at the crime scene, the suspect was booed by the crowd, who came to pay tribute to little Loananoted The Ardennes. Asked by France 3 Grand-Est On October 18, 2023, a local resident who knew the little girl returned to the profile of the main suspect, arrested by the police. “The person suspected of having killed him has lived here for two months, he specifies. She is known to drinkeven though this individual seemed calm, but you never know.” During his custody, the 57-year-old man allegedly multiplied “contradictory and fanciful statements”according to a police source relayed by Free Midday. The public prosecutor of Reims, François Schneider, gave some details, which can be found in particular in Paris Match this Friday October 20, 2023. According to the suspect, the tragedy would be “an accident”. He claims that the little girl would be “fell down the stairs”. Currently presumed innocent, the 57-year-old could incur life imprisonment if he is found guilty of the charges against him.