Missing schoolgirls found dead

2006-06-28 16:49

Liege - Belgian police on Wednesday discovered the bodies of two missing school girls almost three weeks after their disappearance revived traumatic memories of the Dutroux paedophile case.

The bodies of step-sisters Stacy Lemmens, 7, and Nathalie Mahy, 10, were found near a rain water pipe in long weeds alongside a railway track just a few hundred metres from where they went missing overnight on June 9.

Investigating magistrate Pascale Goossens confirmed that Stacy's body had been found first at around 10:30 (08:30 GMT).

She told the Belga news agency that the date of the girl's death could not be established without an autopsy, but that it appeared she had not died recently.

Philippe Moureau, a lawyer for Stacy's mother, also confirmed the news.

"The body is definitely that of Stacy," he told RTBF state television.

"Her mother has been informed and I don't think they would have made the error of doing that if there had been any doubt.

"She's in such a state of shock," he said.

After concentrating their efforts on removing her body, at a scene with a wide taped-off perimeter to keep away curious onlookers, the corpse of her step sister Nathalie was retrieved at around 15:00, Belgian media said.

"They've just found the second body, 20m away," said the RTBF correspondent at the scene, where dozens of police backed by civilian rescue teams and a helicopter were at work.

"It's thought to be the body of Nathalie."

Investigators were preparing to hold a press conference in Liege to provide more details at around 15:00 GMT.

The girls' disappearance has rocked Belgium with its disturbing echoes of the Marc Dutroux paedophile crimes.

Like Dutroux, whose case began when two girls went missing in Liege, the only identified suspect, Abdellah Ait Oud, has previous convictions for sex crimes involving minors.

He denies involvement in their disappearance but has said that he was in the area around the time they went missing.

RTBF's reporter said the body had been found a few hundred metres from where the girls were last seen playing and close to the suspect's home, but that police had no evidence linking him to the deaths.

Oud appeared before in court on Tuesday as prosecutors sought to have him held in custody for another month, despite admitting that they had no new evidence against him.

Judges have until July 4 to decide whether to extend his detention.

A source close to the case told AFP that the discovery of the bodies was part of the on-going search and was not linked to anything the 38-year-old Moroccan might have said in court during the hearing.

Oud turned himself in to police on June 13, more than three days after the step-sisters disappeared while playing around a bouncy castle near the "Les Armuriers" cafe.

Liege prosecutor Anne Bourguignont said on Monday that his actions had been suspicious.

"The prosecution position is still the same; that he disappeared strangely from his home for three days even though he knew he was being sought by police," she told AFP.

The final results of DNA tests taken on blood and sperm at the man's home are expected to be released this week, although initial findings did not reveal any trace of the girls.

- SAPA