Monday night, Jérôme B., 41 years previous, was my in exam for kidnapping and sequestration then positioned in pre-trial detention, introduced the Agen prosecutor’s workplace. He’s the principle suspect in the disappearance of Lyhannalacking in Fleurance within the Gers since Friday afternoon. Video surveillance pictures present the 11-year-old schoolgirl stepping into the suspect’s automotive after class, round 3 p.m. Since then, she has not given the slightest signal of life.
This father, residing in Montestruc-sur-Gers, lower than ten kilometers from Fleurance, admitted to having taken the younger teenager in his automotive however claims to have dropped her off shortly after on the swimming pool. Feedback deemed “incoherent” by the authorities. Whereas analysis continues this Tuesday, investigators are attempting to know the persona of this man. On his Fb account, 20 Minutes was in a position to seek the advice of, Jérôme B. shows a picture of a caring father, largely highlighting his two youngsters and his household in his profile photographs.
A “smiling” or “uncomfortable” man
In his neighborhood, the person had by no means been seen. One among his neighbors described him to La Dépêche du Midi as a “smiling” and “type” man. Different testimonies paint a extra ambivalent portrait. Lewis*, a thirty-year-old who contacted the suspect in 2019 to purchase “Magic” playing cards from him, remembers 20 Minutes of a wierd encounter in his previous home within the city middle, close to the church: “I used to be simply beginning my enterprise, so I got here to his home fairly naively. Inside, it was a multitude. The playing cards had been on the backside of a drawer… He made me uncomfortable, I did not really feel at dwelling with him in any respect, I did not need to keep. The ambiance was actually bizarre. »
In response to the primary parts of the investigation, the suspect knew the sufferer: he’s the daddy of one among her class pals. However in line with these near Lyhanna, the person behaved inappropriately. His mom, Charlie, informed La Dépêche du Midi that the forty-year-old “introduced snacks to Lyhanna every single day”. She additionally recounts an incident that allegedly occurred throughout a sleepover in the beginning of the varsity 12 months: “She informed us that he had enjoyable tickling her, that he had performed along with her fairly a bit.” After this habits deemed “problematic” and “inappropriate”, the mother and father declare to have reduce all contact.
Habits deemed “problematic”
If the suspect has a clear document, investigators work to hint the suspect’s previous to attempt to higher perceive his profile. Nevertheless, as revealed BFM TVthe person labored for slightly over three years as a contractual upkeep agent for the Occitanie area, finishing up replacements in a number of excessive colleges within the Gers from 2018.
His profession got here to an abrupt finish in February 2021, when he was topic to disciplinary dismissal from Lannes highschool, in Lectoure. The principal had raised the alarm after discovering that the agent was sending insistent messages to a scholar on social networks. Nevertheless, there was no authorized motion.
Jérôme D. the final individual to see Lyhanna
Jérôme B. is the final individual recognized to have seen Lyhanna. In response to La Dépêche du Midiafter dropping off the schoolgirl, the person went to the first college in his village round 4:45 p.m. to select up his personal daughter, earlier than collaborating within the college celebration on the finish of the day. Referred to on Monday afternoon, the forty-year-old refused to elucidate himself.
*The primary title has been modified.
