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. 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. 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. 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. (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. 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. 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. 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.
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.