FLEURANCE , France – Search teams in southwestern France on Thursday discovered the body of a child believed to be 11-year-old Lyhanna, who vanished last week after being seen getting into a man’s car, in a case that has ignited fury over the justice system’s handling of sexual abuse allegations.

Police found the body in a silo on a farm near the village of Puycasquier, days after dozens of officers and volunteers began combing the countryside for the missing girl.

“A body believed to be that of a child was discovered, wearing clothes similar to those worn by the abducted minor at the time of her disappearance,” prosecutor Olivier Naboulet said in a statement. An autopsy will be required to formally identify the remains.

A father of two (41) has been detained as the key suspect in the case. According to a local agricultural official, the man had worked on the farm where the body was discovered.

Lyhanna went missing on Friday near Fleurance village. After being shown security camera footage, the suspect admitted giving the girl a lift but insisted he had dropped her off at a swimming pool.

Pattern of allegations

The case has triggered public anger after it emerged the suspect had been repeatedly accused of sexually abusing children with no action taken by authorities.

Prosecutor Clemence Meyer on Wednesday revealed there had been three previous complaints against the man dating back to 2017.

In December 2017, a mother reported that her daughter (17) was in a relationship with the suspect. The case was dropped in 2018 after the girl said she had consented.

In January 2022, a complaint accused him of raping a child younger than 15 in 2020 at his home in southwestern France. The case was transferred to the local prosecutor but dismissed in 2024 for lack of evidence.

On 22 August 2025, the mother of a girl born in 2014 accused him of raping her child between September 2024 and May 2025 at his home.

The complaint was first examined in Toulouse, then transferred to the local prosecutor’s office, which in January demanded police investigate. However, police had still not questioned him when Lyhanna disappeared.

“The investigation was still underway when Lyhanna went missing,” Meyer said.

She added that a new complaint for the alleged rape of a minor had been filed on Wednesday but provided no further details.

Government response

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told parliament on Wednesday that he had demanded the justice ministry carry out an inquiry into the handling of the cases.

On Friday, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu will discuss the case with the ministers of interior and justice.

“We are all terrified by this malfunction, which, I believe, reflects our poor organisation,” Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

Anne-Cecile Mailfert, of the Women’s Foundation activist group, said better laws were needed to prevent sexual violence.

“I am stunned and I am angry,” she said on the group’s Instagram page after discovering the suspect had already been accused of rape last year.

“Another 10-year-old girl found the immense courage to tell her parents. They supported her, they believed her, she went to the police, they filed a complaint, and then nothing happened,” she said.

“We’re calling for a comprehensive law against sexual violence, because the system doesn’t work.”