It was November 14, 1996 in Agen. Marion Wagon, a 10-year-old child, comes home from school at lunchtime. She only has 400 meters to go to her home. She will never get there. Marion disappeared in broad daylight, without anyone noticing anything suspicious. The case caused a stir, it is one of the first times that a child’s disappearance has received so much media coverage. The girl’s face is printed on millions of milk bottles. In vain.
Twenty-five years later, Cyrielle Adam delves into this mystery, resumes the investigation and reveals neglected leads. She managed to obtain the testimony of Marion’s dad, Michel Wagon, who refused to speak for very long years: “He agreed to speak because he wants things to move. The parents are received very little by the investigating judges who follow one another and they have the impression that no one is taking care of Marion’s case anymore.” explains Cyrielle Adam.
The report also gives the floor to Roland Courdesse, in charge of the investigation at the time. He was the first to take the matter seriously: “I immediately thought of the worst. Alas, there were a lot of failures. From the evening of the disappearance, the prosecutor made unfortunate remarks, talking about a possibility of running away. Then quickly, there was animosity between the investigating judges and the judicial police. And the gendarmes wanted to be seized of the case so they made the effort to fire the PJ with sometimes twisted blows. And all that was detrimental to the progress of the investigation. Especially since our divestiture came at a time when we had two interesting leads. It’s a big personal regret.”
One of these tracks is that of a cibiste already condemned for pedophilia: “He was trying to go to Agen the day Marion disappeared. Unfortunately he died in 2003”, says Cyrielle Adam.
The Fourniret track is also plausible. Justice continues to search but the case comes up against a notable difficulty: we do not have Marion’s DNA.
Cyrielle Adamon franceinfo
For Roland Courdesse, no doubt, the name of the assassin is in the file. A case he cannot forget: “It arrived at the end of my career. I had missed a few cases but not identifying the perpetrators of a heist or a hold-up is not a big deal. On the other hand, not being able to solve the disappearance of a child… I think about it very often, I go over it again. I’m very happy that W9 has decided to bring this case to light. The more we talk about it, the more chances we have of awakening consciences or freeing up speech . There’s bound to be someone who knows.”