French police investigating the mysterious and brutal death of a 12-year-old girl whose body was found inside a suitcase in Paris last week are holding two suspects for questioning, including a 24-year-old woman who suffers from “psychiatric disorders,” according to a local report.
The 12-year-old girl, identified only by her first name, Lola, was found dead Friday night in Paris, a few streets away from the building where she lived with her parents.
The body had large visible wounds on its neck and an autopsy conducted Saturday determined she died of asphyxiation, a source told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Of the two people remaining in police custody, investigators said the main suspect is a 24-year-old woman suffering from psychiatric disorders, the outlet reported.
The woman, who is reportedly homeless, was arrested Saturday in Bois-Colombes in Paris’ northwestern suburbs after she was seen on CCTV footage near the home of the victim.
The other person held is a 43-year-old man who allegedly sheltered the woman and was in a car with her at the time of her arrest on Saturday.
Potential charges may include the rape and murder of a minor under 15 and the torture, abuse and concealing of a body, a source in the French judiciary told AFP.
Lola’s parents had reported her missing Friday evening when she never returned home from school.
Her father, a caretaker of the building where the family lived, told police that he saw his daughter on CCTV footage of the building with a woman in her 20s, French news outlet BFMTV reported. The woman was later seen carrying a suitcase out of the building.
Investigators searched the basement of the building where the family lived and discovered evidence of kidnapping, according to the report.
Around 11:30 p.m., a homeless man called police to report a suitcase in rue d’Hautpoul, a few streets away from the family’s residence, which contained the body of the girl. Sources familiar with the investigation told AFP that the corpse was hidden under clothes in a plastic trunk.
The numbers “1” and “0” were reportedly written on paper notes and placed on each of the victim’s feet.
Investigators initially took six people into custody and have since released four.
