Man charged over missing French nine-year old girl after 'DNA found in car'

A 34-year old man has been charged and remanded in custody over the disappearance of a nine-year-old girl during a wedding in the Alps, say prosecutors.

Maelys de Araujo was last seen in the early hours of Sunday August 27 at a community hall where the wedding was held in Pont-de-Beauvoisin, a village some 30 miles north of Grenoble.

The suspect has told investigators that she "got into his car", his lawyer told  AFP, but denies abducting her. 

The vehicle had previously caught the attention of investigators, as the owner had washed it after the wedding, he said in order to sell it.

Sniffer dogs lost the scent from Maelys's cuddly toy in a car park outside the venue, raising fears she was kidnapped and whisked away by car.

She has not been found despite intense searches in the heavily wooded area where the wedding took place.

Grenoble's prosecutor said that the suspect has been charged with "kidnapping, illegal confinement or arbitrary detention of a minor of less than 15 years" following a police probe.

He was at the wedding during which the little girl - who was attending the event with her parents - went missing, the statement said.

The charged man is one of two suspects who were detained on Thursday over inconsistencies in their statements, but then released on Friday evening.

Fresh evidence uncovered during the police probe had led to the suspect, who had been released, being recalled and questioned again, said the prosecutor.

"Brought before investigating judges at the end of the afternoon, he contested the facts. Confronted with testimony, findings and scientific evidence, he persisted in his denials and explanations," the statement said.

"This did not convince the investigative judges, who decided to hold him," it added.

"After the debate... between the prosecutor and the defence," the man was placed "in provisional detention," the statement added.

Police technical and forensic teams found DNA evidence and were trying to determine whether the missing girl had been in the suspect's car, said a source close to the investigation.

The DNA was found on the dashboard of the suspect's Audi, his lawyer confirmed on Monday. 

​The lawyer, Bernard Méraud, said that his client had told investigators that Maelys had got into his car that night, but that he denied the charges

"He declared that the little girl got into the vehicle with a little boy, on the back seat, to see if (the suspect's) dog was in the boot." They were able to do so because all of the car's windows were open, he said.

But he added: "One should avoid drawing any clear conclusions."

He stressed that his client "continues to totally deny" any involvement in her disappearance and that the DNA on the dashboard "may have been transferred" from someone else.

The suspect's mother had earlier played down the significance of the DNA findings, saying wedding guests took part in party games organised that evening. "The little girl touched (the games). He touched them afterwards, then he goes in his car and touches his car and that's how you find tiny (DNA) traces. If they found something very significant I'd understand, but we're talking about tiny traces," she told RMC.

Police have interviewed many of the 250 guests at the wedding, with partygoers from two other events in the area also being questioned.

Along with search and rescue teams, divers and cavers, they have spent the past week trawling through the heavily wooded area near where the wedding was held for signs of her - to no avail.