WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT The boy was found lifeless on the bank of the Vilaine River in the city of Rennes in northwestern France on Sunday after a fisherman alerted police
Two teenagers have been questioned by police after an 11-year-old boy was found dead near a river ‘with a wet towel tied around his neck’.
The boy, who has not been named, was found lifeless on the bank of the Vilaine River in the city of Rennes in northwestern France. A fisherman heard the cries of a child near the river at around 4:40pm on Sunday. He immediately called emergency services and firefighters rushed to the scene at 4:50pm. But after desperate all efforts the young boy was tragically pronounced dead at the scene.
Following the tragic discovery French police launched a murder investigation and officials have now made two arrests.
On Monday, a 16-year-old boy was detained in his home and a 15-year-old girl was arrested after turning herself into a police station, Rennes prosecutor Frederic Teillet said.
“It is therefore the two young people who were seen with the victim at the scene on the afternoon of the incident who are currently in police custody” on charges of “murder of a minor,” he said in a statement.
Teillet confirmed the victim had been 11 years old, not 12 as initially announced.
Local media report that the boy’s mother had been searching for him at the time the riverside ordeal unfolded. He had told her he was going fishing in the area with a friend. According to authorities, the ordeal took place “in a wooded area at the foot of several apartment buildings, below the bridge that crosses over the Vilaine River”.
It remains unclear how the three children knew each other.
The organised and specialised crime division has taken charge of the ongoing investigation.
