Tiphaine Véron, a 36-year-old Frenchwoman, disappeared during a tourist trip to Japan 4 years ago. His family is moving heaven and earth to find out the truth. But in Japan “when there are people who disappear, they are not wanted”laments on franceinfo Damien Véron, brother of Tiphaine Véron and co-author with his other sister, Sibylle Véron, of “Tiphaine, where are you?”, published by Robert Laffont. He rejects the accidental thesis of the Japanese police and “hope” that the criminal trail will be explored. For this, he is counting on a possible trip to Japan by an examining magistrate.
franceinfo: What do the Japanese police tell you when you arrive in Japan to find your sister?
Damien Veron: Very quickly, when Tiphaine disappeared, we were informed two days later by the embassy. The idea is to immediately go there to find her. We are received by the local police. They take Thiphaine’s disappearance seriously. However, they explain to us that it was an accident. They give us back Tiphaine’s suitcase. It’s incredibly violent. The objective being for them to say: “It’s over. Nothing else will happen. You can go home”. We end up with Tiphaine’s suitcase. They explain that nothing is going to happen when it’s been five days since Tiphaine disappeared. Maybe she’s somewhere at the moment, waiting for someone to come and rescue her. It was dreadful.
Japan does not investigate all disappearances. Did you know the phenomenon of “evaporated”?
We came across this phenomenon because we didn’t understand why they weren’t looking. It’s still implausible. And we actually discovered that there is the famous phenomenon of “evaporated”. When there are people who go missing, they are not wanted. At the same time, we also discovered that there is a second problem, but it took us longer to discover it: it is rare for criminal investigations to be opened. It is really necessary that the culprit be found, designated so that then there is an opening. So, as much to say that despite all the various facts and all the suspects that there have been around the disappearance of Tiphaine, there has been no progress.
Have you decided to conduct the survey yourself?
The Nikko police, thanks to the ambassador, agreed to receive us in meeting. We really found ourselves completely immersed in the Japanese system. This is something that is unique, as the family found themselves in the first position to investigate practically within the Nikko police station. [petite ville au nord de Tokyo, célèbre pour ses sanctuaires et temples]. This is unheard of. Indeed, when someone disappears, the telephone is the indispensable element. In France, or anywhere, you make a requisition with the operators to have the demarcation. Except that in Japan, it has never been done. Once again, we understood that without criminal opening, you do not have a requisition made with the operators. But that’s absurd.
“It is very likely that the data will be lost forever and that we will never be able to obtain information to geolocate Tiphaine’s phone.”
Damien Veronat franceinfo
Do you have any elements that lead you to think that your sister has not “evaporated”?
Yes, because in fact, in a very factual way, the Japanese explained, when we arrived, that Tiphaine had fallen into the river because of a flood, since there had been a typhoon. In fact, there was no flood or typhoon the day Tiphaine disappeared. The accidental track, obviously, cannot hold. And then, thanks to our investigations, we saw that there were a lot of news items in Níkko, with discoveries of dismembered bodies, terrible things. It is absolutely necessary that the criminal aspect be opened.
Have you been able to penetrate the secrets of your sister’s cell phone?
Xavier Niel helped us, accompanied by his engineers or others, to move forward on telephony since we had no answer. We tried to advance ourselves. Indeed, it would seem, even if we always need information on the Japanese side, that the phone stopped suddenly in the vicinity of the hotel, of Tiphaine’s room.
You called on the French authorities for help to the highest peak in the state. Have you been answered?
In October 2018, my sister Sybille arrested Emmanuel Macron and Shinzo Abe. As she is a journalist, she was able to get accreditation. Emmanuel Macron is extremely benevolent. We know that the Élysée is following. The Poitiers prosecutor’s office wants the investigating judge to travel to Japan, which is not nothing. So we really have support from the authorities, from the French ambassador to Japan, who is ready to ensure the link. So, the judge simply has to move to see real progress.
Four years after your sister disappeared, do you hope to find your sister?
We hope so. The hotelier, who is the last person to have seen Tiphaine again, explains that she left before 10:00 a.m., when in reality, the Wi-Fi connections show that she was in her room until 11:40 a.m. You have blood that was detected in his hotel room, which was never investigated. The people who were sleeping in the hotel at that time were not clearly interviewed. Other suspects arrested us. There’s someone pretending to be a false guide. In fact, there is such a huge list of things to do that I think we will find it. Afterwards, alive, unfortunately, I try not to think about it.