© picture alliance / MAXPPP | Arnaud Beinat
The search continues for Lyhanna, the girl who disappeared in southwestern France since Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, it appears that a complaint of the rape of a minor girl was filed against the prime suspect back in August 2025.
11-year-old Lyhanna disappeared on Friday as she was leaving school in Fleurance, in the Gers department of southwestern France. She was last seen getting into a man's car. A 41-year-old man, the father of a friend of the missing girl, was arrested on Saturday. During his first interrogation before the investigating judge, he denied any involvement in her disappearance. He claimed that he took her to the local swimming pool.
Suspect previously charged
Audrey, a mother of a friend of the suspect, testified on French television channel BFMTV. As of August 2025, he was already the subject of a complaint for repeatedly raping a minor. The victim, Rosa, was 10 years old at the time and a friend of her daughters.
The facts occurred between September 2024 and May 2025. When the mother confronted the man with her daughter's statements, he denied everything and threatened to kill himself if the girl did not say she was lying. Out of fear, she initially did, but eventually the mother went to the police department.
Complaint filed in August 2025
In August 2025, Rosa and Audrey filed a complaint with the police. The child was heard by police men and examined by doctors. Nine months later, in June 2026, the accused had still not been heard in the case. The case was transferred by the Toulouse prosecutor's office to the Auch prosecutor's office because the facts had occurred in Montestruc-sur-Gers.
Meanwhile, the search for the missing girl is continuing, using all possible means: divers, dogs, helicopters, even ordinary citizens have organized a large search operation. More than 180 police men are being deployed to find a trace of the 11-year-old girl.
"Time is working against us, we have been searching for five days now. But that does not diminish our determination," said the commander of the French department's gendarmerie unit, which is in charge of operations.
Picture: © picture alliance / MAXPPP | Arnaud Beinat