A 12-year-old girl found dead inside a suitcase was spotted on CCTV just moments before she died. The young girl, named only as Lola, was reported missing after she never returned home from school in Paris, France.
Police have since launched a murder investigation after her body was later discovered tied up inside a plastic suitcase just a few streets away from where she lived on Friday night. Now, a chilling image taken from CCTV footage has been released, which shows the girl dressed in a white top and bottoms while carrying what appears to be her schoolbag.
She is seen walking into the building where she stayed just behind a woman dressed in white trainers, light leggings and a grey jumper. Witnesses claim the same woman was later seen carrying the suitcase that the victim's body was found inside, the Mirror reports.
The security clip shows the two entering the flats at 3.20pm on Friday and officers confirmed to French media they had found signs of a kidnapping in the basement of the building. Lola’s body was eventually discovered a few streets away from the block of flats in Paris’ 19th arrondissement.
Police told French media that they had found signs of kidnapping in the basement of her family’s building. One resident told BMFTV he saw the suspect dragging the suitcase around two hours before Lola’s disappearance.
They said: “We saw her go into the building, she was all alone... we saw her half an hour later with a suitcase, she was speaking a bit with everyone, she seemed to be a bit crazy.”
“She was struggling to carry the suitcase, we thought it was because it was heavy items and she was quite slim - we never thought it was a body... It was 5pm and she was walking around with that suitcase, she even left it outside a café and went to the bakery opposite to buy a croissant as if nothing had happened.”
Lola’s mother, Delphine went to the police at 5pm on Friday when she became worried for her daughter’s safety and posted about it online. Appealing for help with her daughter’s safe return, she said: “Alert abduction of our daughter Lola seen last time at 15:20 in the company of a girl we don't know in our residence.
"She got white jeans on. A white sweater with a hood. As well as his grey backpack. Please help us find her."
Less than six hours later a homeless man contacted police saying he stumbled upon the suitcase containing Lola’s body around 11.30pm on Rue d’Hautpoul - a few streets from the victim’s home.
Police have made several arrests including the female suspect and the homeless man.
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