The author of the double murder in the Cévennes, on the run for three days, was still not found on Friday and no trace of his presence could be noted.
He is currently being hunted by some 350 gendarmes, who sweep an area of 225 square kilometers.
His village is under high military protection.
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The double murderer of the Cévennes, on the run for three days and tracked by some 350 gendarmes, is still not found on Friday.
No trace of his presence could be noted, we learned from investigators.
The gendarmes are always supported by helicopters and drones equipped with thermal cameras as well as by nine dog teams.
But Valentin Marcone has the advantage of the field and his many hiding places that he knows well.
Time and wear are playing against him, however, believes General Jean-Valéry Lettermann, at the microphone of Europe 1.
"He must be feeling all this pressure"
"If the fugitive is still in the area, which we think, he must be feeling all this pressure around him, with the dogs, the helicopters and the gendarmes posted all over the place. What is the effect on his psyche, I don't "Don't know, but it must still be significant or weigh for him. You never know how long this kind of pursuit will last, but we are ready for it," he explains.
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The gendarmes, reinforced by colleagues from the GIGN, comb an area of 225 square kilometers, a square of 15 kilometers on the side around the town of Plantiers, in the Gard, where Valentin Marcone shot his boss and one of his colleagues, Tuesday morning, in the sawmill of the village where he is employed.
A disturbing profile
More than three days after the tragedy, the profile of the fugitive is more and more precise and every day more worrying. A priori armed with a pistol, probably the one with which he committed his two murders, and a rifle equipped with a telescopic sight, this 29-year-old man, married and father of a one-year-old girl , would thus be an excellent shooter. "It's going to be very hard because he's a lone wolf. He wasn't caught in the gendarmerie or the army, and now he wants to play Rambo. Maybe he wants to show that they missed a good element. It can be very dangerous because it shoots very well, unfortunately ", estimates Claude Legrand, president of the local hunting association.
Thursday, a call for witnesses was launched by investigators, with the photo of the fugitive. And his father recorded a message to his destination, on the initiative of the gendarmerie, to call him to surrender. The Plantiers remain under very high military protection until further notice. The atmosphere on site is heavy, sighs Claude Legrand.