Remains of five infants found in apartment in France
Police discovered the bones of four infants and the body of a fifth in an apartment in the city of Orange, launching a murder investigation. The remains were found by the mother's partner. The 32-year-old mother, who gave birth to a healthy baby on Sunday, remains hospitalized and has not yet been questioned.
The remains of five infants were found in cardboard boxes in an apartment in the city of Orange in southeastern France. The Carpentras prosecutor's office announced on Tuesday that an investigation has been opened on suspicion of the murder of a minor under the age of 15. According to the report, police officers conducted a search on Monday at the couple's apartment in the city's historic center and found the bones of four infants and the body of a fifth in a state of decomposition.
The discovery was prompted by the mother's 32-year-old partner. The prosecutor's office stated:
"The partner, shaken by the very late discovery of his partner's pregnancy, who had given birth the day before at home before being taken to the hospital, began searching and discovered what appeared to be human remains."
He reported the finding to the hospital, which then notified the prosecutor's office.
A forensic expert estimated that the bones and the body belong to five infants. The prosecutor's office has ordered an autopsy on the infant's body, and the bones will be transferred for further laboratory tests. The mother, also 32, is still hospitalized after giving birth to a healthy baby on Sunday and has not yet been questioned. Her partner is being questioned at this stage not as a suspect, and according to the prosecutor's office, he claims that he "knew nothing about other pregnancies of his partner."
The couple has two other children, aged 8 and 9. The prosecutor's office contacted social services to examine their situation and ordered the temporary removal of the baby born on Sunday from the parents' custody, in preparation for an appeal to a family court judge.
A neighbor of the couple told the AFP news agency that the two children attended the local elementary school. According to him, the mother "would pick them up from school at noon," while her partner appeared to be absent from the house for work all day. According to reports, bicycles were seen leaning against the stair railing outside the second-floor apartment today, and a red tape was stretched across the door, blocking entry.
Last March, a 44-year-old woman was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the deaths of two of her infants, whose bodies were found in the family freezer in the same district where Orange is located. She was convicted of failure to provide care resulting in death and has filed an appeal. In 2018, a woman was sentenced to eight years in prison after drowning five infants and freezing their bodies. In 2015, a mother was sentenced to nine years in prison for killing eight of her children.
