France Gripped by Outrage Over Justice System Failures in 11-Year-Old Girl's Disappearance and Death

A firestorm of recrimination raged in France on Friday over failures in the justice system that kept a man now suspected in the disappearance and death of an 11-year-old girl out of custody despite allegations that he preyed on young adolescents. The disappearance of the girl identified by police as Lyhanna and days of searches that ended with the discovery of her body in a disused grain silo have gripped national and, increasingly, political attention since she went missing in the southwestern Gers region on May 29. Police notices said she had been wearing a black-and-white striped top, black shorts and yellow socks with branding from the Japanese manga series One Piece. After six days of searching by police and volunteers, authorities announced Thursday that a child’s body dressed in “similar clothes” had been found. Police were led to the grain silo by a tip-off that the suspect in custody had previously worked there, Gers-region prosecutor Olivier Naboulet said in a statement on Friday evening. DNA matching confirmed the body was Lyhanna’s but more autopsy work is needed to determine the cause of death, Naboulet said.