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Sensitive Affairs” returns to the unsolved enigma of the “forgotten little girls of 1987”, four little girls murdered in Île-de-France returns to the enigma of the “forgotten little girls of 1987”, four little girls murdered in the Paris region
“Sensitive Affairs” returns to the unresolved enigma of the “forgotten little girls of 1987”, four little girls murdered in Île-de-France
(SENSITIVE AFFAIRS / FRANCE 2)
Their names were Virginie, Perrine, Hemma, Sabine. Four little girls aged 7 to 10, kidnapped and murdered in barely two months in Ile-de-France, in the spring of 1987. On April 28, “Sensitive Affairs” plunges into a terrible unsolved criminal enigma, which almost fell into oblivion.
For thirty-seven years, Françoise Delmas has been waiting. This mother is waiting to finally know who kidnapped and murdered her little daughter Virginie on May 9, 1987. She was 10 years old. For his parents, mourning remains impossible even today. But for almost two years, hope has been reborn with the new investigations carried out by the judicial center for unresolved cases in Nanterre. The evolution of investigation techniques offers magistrates and police officers a chance to finally unravel the mystery, almost forty years later.
For the first time, the case of little Virginie Delmas is compared to three others. Those of Perrine Vigneron, 7 years old, Hemma Greedharry, 10 years old, and Sabine Dumont, 8 years old. All were murdered in the Paris suburbs in less than two months, between May and June 19987.
“We have a unity of place, a unity of time, and an identical mode of operating… This is because there was a predator circling in the Paris region, and which was completely unleashed.”
Gilles Leclair, head of the criminal division of the SRPJ of Versailles (1978-1988),in “Sensitive matters”
These crimes which follow one another within a radius of 50 kilometers present disturbing similarities. Were Virginie, Perrine, Hemma and Sabine victims of a serial killer? Or are there several murderers? From disappointed hopes to false leads, the investigations, carried out separately, are slipping and leaving the families without answers.
A serial killer, or several murderers?
Since then, theThe possible involvement of several serial killers was verified by investigators. Among them, “the ogre of the Ardennes”, Michel Fourniret. He confessed to twelve murders and may have committed more… but at the time of the crime, he was in prison. The police were also interested in François Vérove, known as “le Grêlé”, responsible for several rapes and murders in the 80s and 90s. His DNA was taken. But it does not correspond to the one that was found in the case of Sabine Dumont…
How can we explain that to this day, the identity of the murderer(s) remains unknown? “In all cases where the perpetrators cannot be found, it is because there is something that has not been done.” believes former commissioner Gilles Leclair. The Nanterre “cold cases” center is exploring new avenues, which have not yet led to any prosecution.
Excerpt from “Les petitsoubliées de 1987”, to be seen on April 28, 2024 on France 2 at 3:05 p.m. in “Affaires Sensitives”, a co-production between France Télévisions, France TV presse, France Inter and the INA, adapted from a French broadcast Inter.
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