French police have found the remains of an eight-year-old French girl who vanished from a wedding in the Alps last August in a case that gripped the country, a prosecutor has said.

Chief suspect Nordahl Lelandais, a 34-year-old former soldier, guided investigators to the site in the hills after a trace of her blood was found in his car.

Having spent months denying the crime, Lelandais admitted to having killed her "by mistake" and having hidden the body afterwards, prosecutor Jean-Yves Coquillat told reporters in the town of Grenoble.

Lelandais, a former military dog-handler, was a guest of the groom at the marriage near Chambery in the alpine Isere region and was charged with her kidnap and murder last November.

Sources close to the investigation said Lelandais began "cooperating" in the search for Maelys's body after he requested to speak to magistrates.

His change of heart is thought to have come after a trace of her blood was found in the boot of his car.

The suspect from the village of Domessin, 30km from Chambery, was also charged in December over the killing of a hitchhiking soldier in April.

During the six-month investigation into the disappearance of Maelys, several clues pointed towards the former soldier, including a trace of her DNA found in his vehicle, mobile phone data, and CCTV images from the night of her disappearance.

The footage shows a car, identified by investigators as belonging to Lelandais, with "a faint silhouette in a white dress" like the one Maelys had been wearing.

Her parents "recognised elements of the dress, particularly the strap", their lawyer Fabien Rajon said.

Lelandais's defence had previously challenged the chronology of events as described by prosecutors.</s>FRENCH POLICE HAVE found the remains of a nine-year-old French schoolgirl who vanished from a wedding in the Alps last August in a case that gripped the country, a prosecutor has said.

Chief suspect Nordahl Lelandais, a 34-year-old former soldier, guided investigators to the site in the hills after a trace of Maelys de Araujo’s blood was found in his car.

Having spent months denying the crime, Lelandais admitted to having killed her “by mistake” and had hidden the body afterwards, prosecutor Jean-Yves Coquillat told reporters in the town of Grenoble.

Lelandais, a former military dog-handler, was a guest of the groom at the marriage near Chambery in the alpine Isere region and was charged with her murder last November.

Sources close to the investigation said Lelandais began “cooperating” in the search for Maelys’ body after he requested to speak to magistrates.

His change of heart was thought to be after a trace of Maelys’ blood was found in the boot of his car, according to a source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

The unmarried suspect from the village of Domessin, 30 kilometres from Chambery, was also charged in December over the killing of a hitchhiking soldier in April.

Having been linked to two murders, police have begun poring over files of other missing people in the region amid fears that Lelandais could be a serial killer.

During the six-month probe into the disappearance of Maelys, several clues pointed towards the former soldier, including a trace of her DNA found in his vehicle, mobile phone data, and CCTV images filmed on the night of her disappearance.

The footage shows a car, identified by investigators as belonging to Lelandais, with “a faint silhouette in a white dress” like the one Maelys had been wearing.

Her parents “recognised elements of the dress, particularly the strap”, their lawyer Fabien Rajon said.

Lelandais’s defence had previously challenged the chronology of events as described by prosecutors.

Read: Man charged with kidnapping over disappearance of girl (9) at Alps wedding

More: Frantic search for nine-year-old girl who vanished from French wedding</s>A former military dog trainer confessed Wednesday to "unintentionally" killing a 9-year-old girl whose disappearance from a wedding party in the Alps last year prompted nationwide concern and months of fruitless searching.

Investigators at last found Maelys De Araujo's skull and some other remains Wednesday in a snow-covered ravine six months after she went missing, according to Grenoble Prosecutor Jean-Yves Coquillat.

Police were led to the remote site by chief suspect Nordahl Lelandais, who was arrested and charged after her disappearance but repeatedly had denied wrongdoing. He was a guest at the same wedding in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near the French mountain city of Chambery.

Lelandais decided to come clean Wednesday after investigators found traces of the girl's blood in the trunk of Lelandais' car, the prosecutor told reporters.

Lelandais told investigators that he killed her accidentally, hid the body near his house and then returned to the wedding party. He later dumped the child's body in the remote ravine.

His lawyer said Lelandais had let children at the wedding party look at dogs he had in his car.

After Maelys went missing, police questioned more than 200 potential witnesses, and hundreds of volunteers helped search the area for days. Police dogs found the girl's scent but lost it in the wedding hall parking lot, suggesting she may have been forced into a vehicle or gotten into one voluntarily.

In his confession, Lelandais did not explain the circumstances of the girl's death, the prosecutor said.

"Lelandais asked investigation judges to question him today, because he had revelations to make," the prosecutor said. Afterward, the prosecutor said, Lelandais apologized to the girl and her parents.

His lawyer Alain Jakubowicz described surprise at hearing Lelandais' confession of Maelys' "accidental death," but did not give further details about what happened. The lawyer said he was dropping his request for Lelandais' release.

"I'm a father. Nothing worse can happen to you as a parent," he said, choking up.

Lelandais is also now suspected of killing a soldier months before in the same region.</s>Jean-Yves Coquillat said investigators found some of Maelys De Araujo's remains in a snow-covered ravine, six months after she went missing.

The Grenoble prosecutor said Nordahl Lelandais, a 34-year-old man, told investigators he killed her "involuntarily," hid the body and then returned to the wedding party before eventually dumping the body in the ravine.

Lelandais had been a guest at the wedding on August 27 in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near the mountain city of Chambery.</s>A former soldier has admitted killing nine-year old French girl Maelys de Araujo who went missing in the Alps in August after he led police to her remains.

Police launched a widespread search for the girl after she disappeared from a wedding in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, in the Chambéry region of south-eastern France at around 3am on 27 August.

Now prosecutors say Nordahl Lelandais has admitted to killing the girl "accidentally" after being in the custody of police since September, although no further details were given about the circumstances of her death.

The 34-year-old led investigators to the remains of de Araujo after he agreed to cooperate with police when a trace of her blood was found in his car.

Lelandais was a guest of the groom and was previously charged with her kidnapping, admitting she was in his black Audi on the night of her disappearance.

Coquillat said during a press conference: "Tonight, Maelys' parents are no longer in the dark. They know that their daughter is dead, that she was killed. We informed them a few minutes ago that we had found the child's remains."

The suspect had taken police to a remote ravine in nearby Saint-France where they found her body after up to 100 officers assisted in the search.

Grenoble prosecutor Jean-Yves Coquillat said that Lelandais told police he "got rid of the body" and offered his apologies to the girl's parents, reported the Daily Telegraph.

He added: "It took us all day to find the place he said he had disposed of the body. We had to remove snow from the road to get to it."

On Wednesday (14 November) Lelandais spoke to judges after he was confronted with the fresh evidence saying he killed de Araujo "involuntarily".

It was reported that he first hid the child's body near his home and returned to the wedding before moving her body later.

Police fear that Lelandais may be a serial killer as he has also been charged with the murder of Arthur Noyer, 24, a soldier who went missing in April 2017 before his skull was found in the Alps.

Investigators will also probe whether Lelandais could be behind the unsolved Alps murders of three Britons in a forest car park in September 2012.

Saad al-Hilli, Iqbal al-Hilli and her mother Suhaila al-Allaf were shot dead on holiday in Chevaline, near Annecy, along with a passing French cyclist, Sylvain Mollier.</s>PARIS (AP) - A former military dog trainer confessed Wednesday to "unintentionally" killing a 9-year-old girl whose disappearance from a wedding party in the Alps last year prompted nationwide concern and months of fruitless searching.

Investigators at last found Maelys De Araujo's skull and some other remains Wednesday in a snow-covered ravine six months after she went missing, according to Grenoble Prosecutor Jean-Yves Coquillat.

Police were led to the remote site by chief suspect Nordahl Lelandais, who was arrested and charged after her disappearance but repeatedly had denied wrongdoing. He was a guest at the same wedding in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near the French mountain city of Chambery.

FILE - This undated photo released on Monday, Aug. 28, 2017, by Gendarmerie Nationale shows a portrait of missing girl, Maelys. French authorities say a man in custody confessed to "unintentionally" killing the 9-year-old girl whose disappearance from a wedding party in the Alps prompted nationwide concern. The prosecutor said chief suspect Nordahl Lelandais told investigators Wednesday Feb.14, 2018 that he killed her accidentally, hid the body and then returned to the wedding party before eventually dumping the body in the ravine. (Gendarmerie Nationale via AP, File)

Lelandais decided to come clean Wednesday after investigators found traces of the girl's blood in the trunk of Lelandais' car, the prosecutor told reporters.

Lelandais told investigators that he killed her accidentally, hid the body near his house and then returned to the wedding party. He later dumped the child's body in the remote ravine.

His lawyer said Lelandais had let children at the wedding party look at dogs he had in his car.

After Maelys went missing, police questioned more than 200 potential witnesses, and hundreds of volunteers helped search the area for days. Police dogs found the girl's scent but lost it in the wedding hall parking lot, suggesting she may have been forced into a vehicle or gotten into one voluntarily.

In his confession, Lelandais did not explain the circumstances of the girl's death, the prosecutor said.

"Lelandais asked investigation judges to question him today, because he had revelations to make," the prosecutor said. Afterward, the prosecutor said, Lelandais apologized to the girl and her parents.

His lawyer Alain Jakubowicz described surprise at hearing Lelandais' confession of Maelys' "accidental death," but did not give further details about what happened. The lawyer said he was dropping his request for Lelandais' release.

"I'm a father. Nothing worse can happen to you as a parent," he said, choking up.

Lelandais is also now suspected of killing a soldier months before in the same region.

FILE - In this Sept.28 2017 file photo, the father of a missing girl, Maelys, Joachim de Araujo, left, and his wife, Jennifer, hold a press conference in Lyon, central France. French authorities say a man in custody confessed to "unintentionally" killing the 9-year-old girl whose disappearance from a wedding party in the Alps prompted nationwide concern. The prosecutor said chief suspect Nordahl Lelandais told investigators Wednesday Feb.14, 2018 that he killed her accidentally, hid the body and then returned to the wedding party before eventually dumping the body in the ravine. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)</s>A man in custody has confessed to “unintentionally” killing a nine-year-old girl whose disappearance from a wedding party in the Alps prompted nationwide concern, French authorities said.

Grenoble prosecutor Jean-Yves Coquillat said investigators found some of Maelys De Araujo’s remains on Wednesday in a snow-covered ravine, six months after she went missing.

The prosecutor said chief suspect Nordahl Lelandais told investigators on Wednesday that he killed her accidentally, hid the body and then returned to the wedding party before eventually dumping the body in the ravine.

Lelandais had also been a guest at the wedding in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near the mountain city of Chambery.

The prosecutor said Lelandais did not explain the circumstances of the girl’s death. A former army dog handler, Lelandais had already been charged in her disappearance.– PA</s>A former military dog trainer has confessed to "unintentionally" killing a nine-year-old girl whose disappearance from a wedding party in the Alps last year prompted nationwide concern and months of fruitless searching.

A former military dog trainer has confessed to "unintentionally" killing a nine-year-old girl whose disappearance from a wedding party in the Alps last year prompted nationwide concern and months of fruitless searching.

Soldier leads police to ravine where he left remains of girl (9) after 'unintentionally killing' her during wedding

Investigators at last found Maelys De Araujo's skull and some other remains on Wednesday in a snow-covered ravine six months after she went missing, according to Grenoble prosecutor Jean-Yves Coquillat.

Police were led to the remote site by chief suspect Nordahl Lelandais, who was arrested and charged after her disappearance but had repeatedly denied wrongdoing. He was a guest at the same wedding in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, near the French mountain city of Chambery.

Lelandais decided to come clean on Wednesday after investigators found traces of the girl's blood in the boot of Lelandais's car, the prosecutor told reporters. Lelandais told investigators that he killed her accidentally, hid the body near his house and then returned to the wedding party.

He later dumped the child's body in the remote ravine. His lawyer said Lelandais had let children at the wedding party look at dogs he had in his car.

After Maelys went missing, police questioned more than 200 potential witnesses, and hundreds of volunteers helped search the area for days. Police dogs found the girl's scent but lost it in the wedding hall car park, suggesting she may have been forced into a vehicle or got into one voluntarily.

In his confession, Lelandais did not explain the circumstances of the girl's death, the prosecutor said.

Afterwards, the prosecutor said, Lelandais apologised to the girl and her parents. His lawyer Alain Jakubowicz described surprise at hearing Lelandais's confession of Maelys's "accidental death", but did not give further details about what happened.

The lawyer said he was dropping his request for Lelandais's release. "I'm a father. Nothing worse can happen to you as a parent," he said, choking up.</s>GWALIOR: A seven-year-old girl died in celebratory firing during a wedding here, police said today.

A bullet hit Sejal Jadon (7) in stomach when some people fired in the air during a wedding in Old Gwalior area in the early hours yesterday, said police inspector M M Malviya.

The girl was sitting in a chair at the wedding venue when the bullet hit her.

Inspector Malviya said that police have registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304 of the IPC against an unidentified person.

Police were trying to identify the culprit, he added.</s>A court in the town of Pontoise in France on Tuesday told the prosecutor that a 29-year-old man, who is accused of sexually assaulting a 11-year-old girl, should be tried for rape and not sexual abuse, which carries a lighter sentence in France, AP reported.

The prosecutors had charged the defendant in September 2017 with sexual assault and not with rape. In France, sex between an adult and a minor is not considered rape unless it can be proved that the complainant was coerced, The Local reported. According to the country’s top court, children aged five and under cannot consent to a sexual relationship.

If convicted of sexual assault, the suspect can be jailed for five years in prison, while the rape of a minor under 15 carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Defence lawyers had earlier told the court that the girl had voluntarily followed the man, a father of two, to an apartment after meeting him in a park in Montmagny, northwest of Paris, and agreed to have intercourse. Their client, the lawyers argued, had thought that she was at least 16 years old. “She was 11 years and 10 months old, so nearly 12 years old,” lawyer Marc Goudarzian said on Tuesday. “It changes the story. So she is not a child.”

Once children have “sexual expressiveness, there is a tendency to put themselves in danger”, his colleague Sandrine Parise-Heideiger said. “It does not necessarily mean the person on the other side is a sexual predator,” she added.

Lawyer Carine Diebolt, who is representing the girl and her parents, said, “There is no question of consent when we are talking about a child of 11 years”. She told reporters after the court’s order that “the main thing is that [the girl] can at last be heard as a victim of rape…we can say it is a victory for the victims.”

In November 2017, a criminal court in the Seine-et-Marne district near Paris had acquitted a man of rape charges, saying that there was no evidence that the 11-year-old complainant had been forced. Another court in Fontainebleau, south of Paris, gave a teacher a suspended jail sentence the same month for having sex with a 14-year-old pupil.

President Emmanuel Macron has proposed to introduce a bill on minimum legal age for sexual consent. It would include a provision that would define intercourse with children under a certain age as coercive.
The remains of Maëlys de Araujo, a nine-year-old girl who disappeared from a wedding in France in August 2017, are found after suspect Nordahl Lelandais guides investigators to the site.