Maximilien Carlier, edited by Thibaud Le Meneec 8:17 a.m., August 31, 2021

A seventh campaign of excavations began Monday in a wood of Issancourt-et-Rumel, in the Ardennes, to search for the body of Estelle Mouzin, alleged victim of serial killer Michel Fourniret.

If the family of the girl keeps "good hope", the personality of Monique Olivier, who should be present on Tuesday, complicates this research.

REPORTING

Excavations are continuing in the Ardennes to find the body of Estelle Mouzin, a girl who disappeared in 2003 at the age of 9 and alleged victim of Michel Fourniret, who died last May.

These excavations in a wood will last all week in Issancourt-et-Rumel, a small Ardennes town of 400 inhabitants between Charleville-Mézières and the Belgian border.

Tuesday, Monique Olivier, widow of the serial killer and indicted for complicity, must be present during this research. 

"Perverse character"

"She is like Michel Fourniret, she is a perverse character, but we do not see the interest for her to walk us", explains Me Didier Seban, lawyer of the family, at the microphone of Europe 1. "Obviously, she says she wasn't there at the time of Estelle's funeral precisely, so she can't say 'it's here or there.' She can say where she took Michel Fourniret, where he left to go and bury the body. Each time she gives more details. "

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If advances are allowed, they arrive at the account, because of the personality of Monique Olivier.

"The Belgians had nicknamed her 'two an hour', meaning that she answers questions very slowly, that she thinks each time about the consequences of her answer and that she must be asked. the same question ten times to get an answer. Everything is therefore very long, "laments the lawyer.

Seventh and last excavation campaign?

A difficult investigation, eighteen years after the events, but which is not at a standstill either. "Each time, we discover a little more what could have happened. She clarifies things, she advances without ever going back on her participation and that of Michel Fourniret", continues Me Didier Seban. According to the lawyer, the excavations will begin in earnest on Tuesday with two excavators digging and removing tree stumps. All on a surface twice as large as in previous research. This seventh excavation campaign could be the last. It will continue until the end of the week.