Clothes found of possible eighth victim of French 1970s serial killer
The excavations are taking place in an area where the late killer said he had buried victims
Searches were taking place in a vast wooded area near where the killer’s other victims were found
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Clothing items that could belong to a possible eighth victim of one of France’s most notorious serial killers Emile Louis - known as ‘the butcher of Yonne’ - have been found this week.
The prosecutor in Auxerre, Hugues de Phily, confirmed the finding had happened on October 1, in Rouvray (Yonne, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté), during searches intended to look for a possible eighth victim.
Analysis is now underway on the items to determine when they were buried, and who they may belong to, the prosecutor said, adding: “We must not read too much into this discovery.”
No human remains were found during the new search.
Continued excavations
The excavations began on September 24, more than 40 years after the suspected events, at the continued request of victims’ families. The new search ended on Friday, October 4, prosecutor de Phily confirmed.
A vast area of around 8,000m2 was searched near the small village (which has fewer than 500 inhabitants). Around 140 gendarmes and other military personnel were on-site. The area searched was once designated by former bus driver Emile Louis as a place where he had buried bodies.
The excavations were aimed in particular at finding out more about the cause of death of Marie Jeanne Ambroisine Coussin, who disappeared in 1975. Remains of her skull were discovered in December 2018 on the site.
Only two of seven known victims ever found
The bodies of two of the killer’s seven (known) victims were discovered in another wooded area around 400 to 500 metres away in the early 2000s. They were the bodies of Jacqueline Weis and Madeleine Dejust, who disappeared in 1977 aged 18 and 21 respectively.
So far, they are the only victims to have been found.
Some of the victims’ family members and victim groups believe that more bodies could yet be discovered, including those of the five victims whose remains have not yet been found.
Each of the still-missing young women was aged between 15 and 27. All of them disappeared between 1975 and 1979. Many were mentally disabled and living in care facilities. Five of the victims rode a bus Louis drove for social services in the Yonne district. Some believe that there were more victims.
Louis was found guilty of killing seven women. He was imprisoned for life in 2004, and died aged 79 in 2013.
