Eric Mouzin: the day Estelle disappeared, "my spine turned into a block of ice"

Eloïse Bertil 6:00 p.m., May 22, 2022

PODCAST

When he learns that his 9-year-old daughter has not returned from school, that she has evaporated after saying goodbye to two classmates near a bakery, Eric Mouzin says he felt " his spine which turns into a block of ice".

Immediately, on January 9, 2003, this divorced father felt that the worst had happened.

So he thinks about the best way to proceed to find his daughter, at all costs.

But on this winter night, the weather conditions seem against him: it is snowing and taking the road to reach his ex-wife's home would be too dangerous.

When he finally arrives in Guermantes, where his daughter has disappeared, Eric Mouzin sees firefighters.

They are packing up their gear. 

Could we have known the truth earlier about the disappearance of little Estelle Mouzin in January 2003?

In "L'Ombre", the Original podcast produced by Spotify and Europe 1 Studio, journalist Chloé Triomphe asks this question and to better understand why the investigation lasted so long, we should probably go back to the beginning, to the very first moments that followed Estelle's disappearance.

On the ground, the weather is definitely too bad, the investigations will not resume until the next day, explain the rescuers.

Eric Mouzin still joins a BAC team that makes rounds to try to cover as much ground as possible.

But at this stage of the case, faced with the total lack of information on Estelle's last steps, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack...

The next morning, Eric Mouzin's doorbell rings.

With great emotion even today, Estelle's father confides in journalist Chloé Triomphe about this first visit after the disappearance of his daughter.

A visit from a small group of policemen from the nearest police station, who ask a father in terrible anguish to let them examine his house.

Officially, it's not a search... But in reality, it looks like one.

The police want to search the premises to make sure that Eric Mouzin has not himself kidnapped Estelle.

Upset, Eric Mouzin understands the process despite everything: "I tell the police: 'listen, it's simple, I'm going to show you everything, everything there is in the house'".

He thus himself indicates to the police the potential hiding places of the house which had escaped them.

In the podcast "L'Ombre", he says again: "I tell them: 'you pass by, you did not see that there was a trap door. I show you the trap door, I open it for you. Make sure there's nothing hidden in the crawl space hatch so you understand that I have nothing to do with Estelle's kidnapping.'"

For him, even if this in-depth visit is an unpleasant moment to pass, it means at least one thing: the investigation is taking place.

Eric Mouzin says it himself: at this moment, any advancement is good to take.

“I have only one desire, which is that all means be devoted to his research”.

He is then far from suspecting the time it will take, the false leads and the many twists and turns he will have to face in the years to follow.

This first episode with the police, too, will only be the beginning of a relationship marked by a series of misunderstandings.

To find out more about this unpublished story by journalist Chloé Triomphe devoted to the Estelle Mouzin affair with the testimonies of those who experienced this investigation from the inside, go to the Spotify platform to listen to the podcast for free and exclusively. Original "The Shadow" produced by Spotify and Europe 1 Studio.

"L'Ombre", an Original podcast produced by Spotify and Europe 1 Studio

Journalist: Chloe Triomphe

Director: Christophe Daviaud

Production Europe 1 Studio: Fannie Rascle 

Spotify production: Laura Cordier and Claire Hazan

Want to listen to this podcast?

"L'ombre" is a podcast of five episodes of about thirty minutes each, to be found free of charge and exclusively on the Spotify listening platform.