Both head and body were found around 11.30 p.m. in an apartment, the local prosecutor’s office announced in a statement: “Investigators searched the apartment in the context of the missing person case, which was opened only days earlier after the minor disappeared from a home in Marseille.”
Officials believe that the dead body is likely to be that of the missing adolescent. Due to further wounds on the body, the gruesome murder may also have involved acts of cannibalism. However, Laurent Gumbau, the prosecutor in charge of the case, underlined that at this stage, he cannot confirm any theories surrounding the murder.
The 32-year-old tenant of the apartment fled the scene via the rooftop of the building. According to local witnesses, he was known to have “psychological troubles” and had already been sentenced for acts of violence. Police were able to identify the suspect in town three hours later, where he was shot dead by one of the officers.
The prosecutor’s office has revealed that he was unarmed at the time. Until an autopsy of both bodies is complete, no links can be officially confirmed, Gumbau further emphasised.
The judicial police and the general inspectorate of the national police have been entrusted with the further investigation of the case.
