Suddenly, time stood still. “Almost ten minutes, from 1:30 p.m. to 1:39 p.m.,” says Emma, in her twenties. The corridors of Paris-Dauphine University were packed to the rafters. Not a sound, or almost. “There were a lot of people, all the way to the 4th floor,” the young woman continues. Like her, hundreds of students and teachers paid tribute on Monday to Philippine Le Noir de Carlan, whose body was discovered on Saturday a few hundred meters away, in the Bois de Boulogne.
On a table on the 3rd floor, flowers were placed in front of a photo of the victim, aged 19, who was enrolled in the 3rd year of a degree in economics and financial engineering. Students can leave a message or a testimony in one of the two notebooks provided for this purpose. “We didn’t know her, she wasn’t in our class, but it breaks my heart, especially since she was found next door to here,” adds Emma.
“She was coming out of the canteen and she got killed”
“There was a huge traffic jam on the stairs. All the teachers were there. It was quite an emotional moment. We are sad and shocked,” says Charlotte, in her twenties. Since the announcement of Philippine’s death, “everyone is a bit freaked out,” she says. “It could happen to anyone at the university,” adds Arthur, also a student at the university. “She was coming out of the canteen and she was killed, it’s shocking.”
The body of Philippine Le Noir de Carlan was discovered on Saturday, shortly before 5 p.m., on the other side of the ring road, on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne. The day before, she had lunch at the Crous around 2 p.m. Originally from Montigny-le-Bretonneux, in the Yvelines, the young woman was then due to go to her parents for the weekend. But she never got on the RER C. Without news, her family tried several times to contact her on her mobile. In vain.
Injuries and signs of abuse
So her sister went to the police station in the 16th arrondissement of Paris on Friday evening, around 11pm, to report this worrying disappearance. The next day, her relatives organised a search, bringing together around fifty participants. While trying to geolocate her mobile phone, one of them ended up discovering the victim’s body, partially buried: a knee and an arm were sticking out of the ground.
According to our information, the forensic officers found numerous traces of abuse and injuries on the victim. An autopsy still had to be carried out to determine the causes of the young woman’s death.
The Paris prosecutor’s office, which has opened an investigation for voluntary homicide, has contacted the criminal brigade of the judicial police. The police officers quickly interviewed the witnesses. Because if no surveillance camera is installed in this wooded area, the sector is far from deserted. It is frequented by joggers, local residents walking their dogs. And the Neuneu festival, which attracts thousands of visitors, has set up shop not far from there.
Masked suspect with pickaxe
Several witnesses, including a fairground security guard, reported seeing a man wearing a surgical mask heading towards the lower lake, a pickaxe in his hand. On Monday, investigators were combing the area for any clues that might put them on the suspect’s trail. They were meticulously inspecting the footbridge that overlooks the ring road. Philippine and her murderer probably passed along this small gravel path that connects the capital to its woods.
The bridge is located right across from Claude-Debussy Square and… the Russian Embassy. Will the police ask to see the footage captured by the surveillance cameras installed on the building?
At this stage of the investigation, no suspects have been arrested. Dauphine management has reinforced security measures at the entrance to the establishment and set up a psychological unit to help students and staff who may need it.