Maëlys De Araujo missing: Mystery as girl, 9, vanishes at French wedding sparking massive search operation

Maelys was last seen at a wedding party in southeastern France
AFP/Getty Images
Tom Powell29 August 2017

A huge search operation is under way after a nine-year-old girl vanished during a wedding.

Fears are growing for Maëlys De Araujo after she was last seen in a children's room at the wedding venue at 1am GMT on Sunday.

She had been among the guests of a wedding at a village hall in Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin, Isere, in southeastern France, along with her parents, older sister and other relatives. Her family are believed to be from the nearby region of Jura.

A kidnapping investigation has been opened following her disappearance, according to French media.

Police have reportedly scoured the area using a helicopter and dogs, as well as interviewing all 180 wedding guests.

A police appeal has been shared on social media, including a description of Maëlys. It says she is 1.3 metres tall, weighs 28 kg and has brown eyes and brown hair.

French police officers stand guard outside the village hall where the wedding took place
AFP/Getty Images

One guest at the wedding, called Gregory, told Le Parisien about the moment guests were told of the child's disappearance.

He said: "The DJ for the evening announced on the microphone that a child had disappeared. Suddenly, everyone started searching, in the main hall and outside.

"It was anguish. To see the disappearance of a nine-year-old, that's not nothing. We initially thought she must be asleep in a corner after a game of hide-and-seek. After an hour, as we'd found nothing, the police were alerted."

A diver searches the Guiers river in Pont-de-Beauvoisin
AFP/Getty Images

Divers have been seen carrying out searches in the nearby Guiers River, while the home of the hall's caretaker has also been searched, according to Le Figaro.

However, nobody has been arrested and the investigation is ongoing.

The local prosecutor, Dietlind Baudoin, said no "accidental or criminal track is being ruled out".

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in