The girl was abducted outside her school on Thursday morning. His father, actively sought by the authorities, could seek “to leave France”, according to the public prosecutor.
According to the public prosecutor of Grenoble, “it is probable” that the father of little Eya, kidnapped Thursday, May 25 in the morning in front of his school in Fontaine (Isère), “trying to leave France”. Eric Vaillant was questioned on franceinfo after triggering the kidnapping alert to find the 10-year-old girl. If the device was lifted on Friday morning, “I“Investigation is ongoing and the information gathered through this alert is being processed”, continues the press release from the judicial police. Here’s what we know about his disappearance.
What happened ?
Eya, a 10-year-old girl, was abducted outside her school in Fontaine, a town in the Grenoble suburbs. The scene took place shortly before 8:30 a.m. The kidnapping took place in front of a school, boulevard Joliot Curie. The girl’s mother was walking down the street with her child towards school when they were stopped by two people, the family man and “a hooded accomplice”. These two individuals have sprayed the mother with tear gas and took the little girl away.
“I couldn’t see anything, I couldn’t breathe…” recount Eya’s mother in The liberated Dauphiné. “I tried to pull my daughter behind me, but my ex-husband grabbed her by the hair and forced her into the backseat with him.” Alerted by the screams, witnesses then called the emergency services.
“For her life, I’m not actually worried, but she was abused this morning when her father forced her into the car.”
Eric Vaillant, public prosecutor of Grenobleon franceinfo
What does the little girl look like?
Eya, 10, was born in Tunisia where her mother had gone to study and got married in 2012. She has dual Franco-Tunisian nationality. “Eya is a bubbly little girl, always smiling and saying hello”says a parent of a student in The Parisian. At the time of the events, the girl was “dressed in black pants with small white flowers, a brown jacket with white sleeves, American football type jacket, wearing black shoes, one of which is missing”.
What do we know about the father of the family?
“Amira [la mère d’Eya] told me that her husband was violent with her and her daughter, that he was unpredictable. That’s why she left Tunisia in 2018 to come to the surroundings of Grenoble”says a friend of the mother, still in The Parisian.
“The father was forbidden to approach the little one, but Amira always remained on her guard. She always waited for her daughter to enter school before leaving. Her husband had already made threats.”
A friend of Eya’s motherin “The Parisian”
The girl’s father, Khaled Sassi, 53, “brown colored eyes”. According to the details of the prosecutor, it is “capable of driving a gray vehicle, Peugeot brand, type 306 registered AD-663-TF, or a Renault Clio FZ-176-XC”. He wore “a brown/beige hoodie” And “sweatpants” at the time of abduction. “It is probable” than little Eya’s father “trying to leave France”estimated Eric Vaillant on franceinfo. “It’s obvious, because the dad has dual Swedish and Tunisian nationality”said the Grenoble prosecutor.
Why was the abduction alert triggered and then lifted?
The public prosecutor of Grenoble justified the triggering of the kidnapping alert by the fact that it is a “rapture that has been prepared”. “The mother was gassed, the father was accompanied by a hooded man, all this in front of the girl’s school”, he explained. According to him, “the school was not that full at 8:25 this Thursday morning, so there are not too many witnesses” from the scene.
The alert allowed the judicial police, in charge of the investigation, to receive around 70 messages, some of which are still being processed, explains the prosecutor to France Télévisions. “All European police services [ont] have already been contacted and put in place the necessary measures to intercept the father, his accomplice and the little girl if they show up at their borders”had informed the prosecutor, yesterday, on franceinfo.
According to the press release from the judicial police announcing the lifting of the kidnapping alert, “the investigation continues” to find the girl.