Search in Paris City Park for 19-Year-Old Student Ends in Macabre Discovery

paris - A search operation in Bois de Boulogne in Paris ended with the discovery of the lifeless body of a 19-year-old student, largely buried. Family members had put up missing person posters and organized a search effort for the student who was last seen at her university campus.

The face of the student continues to haunt the area between Porte Dauphine and Porte de la Muette in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Approximately fifty family members had put up dozens of missing person posters during the organized search operation. On Friday, the 19-year-old Philippine had lunch at the university cafeteria. According to reports, she was last seen at 2:00 pm. What transpired afterwards remains a major mystery.

Philippine was supposed to leave for her parents' house in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, a town near Versailles, on Friday afternoon. When she failed to arrive, her family tried calling her but got no response. Concerns grew rapidly around Philippine's disappearance as she was not known to be out of touch. That same evening, around 11:00 pm, a family member went to the police station initiating an investigation into the disappearance. The family, however, was convinced that something had happened to Philippine. They tracked her mobile phone to Bois de Boulogne, which led to a group of about fifty people joining the search effort on Saturday afternoon. Philippine's mobile phone was the first item found. Police officers discovered the body of a young woman, largely buried, a few tens of meters from there.

On Sunday morning, the Public Prosecutor's Office in Paris confirmed the body as that of 19-year-old Philippine. Her necklace, clothing, and facial features left no room for doubt. An autopsy was conducted, but the findings are not disclosed at this stage, stated the prosecutor's office. Initially, there seemed to be no reason for Philippine to go behind the university. The RER station, where she would take the C line, is on the other side of where the body was found. The murder investigation has been handed over to detectives, but the motive for the young woman's murder remains a significant mystery for now.