Body found near Fleurance in search for missing 11-year-old Lyhanna; identification underway
French investigators have recovered a body near Fleurance in the Gers department, one week after 11-year-old Lyhanna disappeared. Forensic identification is ongoing.
A body was discovered on Thursday 4 June near Fleurance, the commune in south-west France where 11-year-old Lyhanna vanished on 29 May. The find was confirmed by a source close to the investigation and reported by multiple outlets including the AFP, BFMTV and RTL. The girl's family has been notified, and criminal identification teams travelled from the Paris region to the scene late Thursday morning.
The investigation
Lyhanna was last seen on Friday 29 May in the afternoon, getting into a car outside her secondary school in Fleurance, a town of 6,000 inhabitants roughly 80 km west of Toulouse. The vehicle belonged to the father of one of her friends. That man, Jérôme Barella, 41, was arrested over the weekend and placed under formal investigation. He has been held in provisional detention since.
The suspect
Barella, a father himself, has been the subject of multiple reports and complaints for rape of a minor dating back to 2017. Several of those procedures remain open. One complaint for rape of a minor was filed in August 2025, and another was added this week. Despite repeated warnings and what specialist lawyer Carine Durrieu Diebolt described as "alert signals" that should have triggered an urgent procedure, many of the earlier complaints were closed without further action.
There were alert signals that should have led to grouping together all the personality elements concerning the suspect and setting up an emergency procedure.
Diebolt, a member of the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence against Children (Ciivise) from 2021 to 2023, spoke to the AFP as the case reignited debate about how the French justice system handles serial complaints involving minors.
What happens next
The Agen public prosecutor, who is leading the case, was expected at the scene on Thursday and may make a statement. Forensic teams are carrying out complementary analyses to determine whether the body is that of Lyhanna. The exact circumstances of the discovery have not yet been disclosed, and the investigation continues.
- Lyhanna, 11, last seen getting into a car outside her school in Fleurance.
- Jérôme Barella, 41, arrested and placed in police custody over the weekend.
- Barella placed under formal investigation and held in provisional detention.
- A body is discovered near Fleurance; identification underway. Family notified.
