Disappearance of Morgane: a message written by the teenager redirects the investigation

A week after her disappearance, Morgane Rivoal, 13, is still actively being sought. On Monday, the public prosecutor gave a new update on the investigation, revealing in particular the existence of a crumpled piece of paper found in the teenager's trash.

Morgane Rivoal, aged 13, is still missing. Since November 25, many gendarmes, accompanied by a helicopter and tracking dogs, have been requisitioned to find the teenager in the Côtes-d'Armor. Without success. A week after her disappearance, the public prosecutor of Saint-Brieuc, Nicolas Heitz, held a press conference on December 2, during which he provided an update on the investigation, revealing new information on what the police were able to discover in seven days as well as on the personality of Morgane R.

The teenager had left the family home, located in the town of Pabu, a few kilometers north of Guingamp, on Monday, November 25, as usual, to go to the Albert Camus college in Grâces, in the nearby suburbs of Guingamp, where she attends school. A journey made partly on foot, then by bus. In the end, she never made it to the school. While an argument with her parents reportedly occurred during the weekend preceding her disappearance, particularly over the use of social networks, during which “her father allegedly broke his daughter's mobile phone and took her SIM card”, Morgane remained with her brothers and sisters in the family home on Sunday. His father worked until the evening, away from home.

A farewell message and more than 110 auditions

According to the testimony of a friend of the teenager, Morgane was “able to indicate on social networks that she would not come to class on Monday”. The public prosecutor revealed this Monday that a farewell message was also found in her trash. “Dad, mom, sorry (sic), I'm leaving”, we can read there. A new clue in favor of the hypothesis of a runaway ? Not necessarily for the police. “No lead has been ruled out”, declared the public prosecutor this Monday.

A lot of research has been carried out on the ground. The woods, the surrounding fields, the water points… Some elements seem to converge towards one and the same place since “all the tracking carried out by the dogs led to the Castel-Pic district, in Guingamp”, we learned. “A drone is still carrying out research in the most difficult to access places”, confided Stéphane Privat, the colonel in charge of of the investigation, Monday.

In parallel, “more than 110 interviews” were carried out. In addition to Morgane's family and friends, several adult men who were chatting with the 13-year-old via social networks were questioned. Two in particular caught the attention of the investigators: one aged 21 years old and living in Drôme, the other aged 29 living in Eure. But no relevant element emerged from their hearings.

Morgane victim of harassment last year

During the hearings, many of Morgane's classmates and friends described her as a “kind, discreet, reserved and even shy” student, but several “noted a certain sadness in her”, revealed the public prosecutor of Saint-Brieuc on Monday. The young girl “could have made worrying remarks and could have experienced real unhappiness”. “Scarifications” that she “would have inflicted on herself” were reported. The teenager had also confided to her tennis teacher that she had “been the victim of harassment last year,” added Nicolas Heitz. The same teacher “had noticed in her a telephone addiction and a certain isolation.” The public prosecutor also highlighted that the disagreements between Morgane and her parents “always originated around the use of the mobile phone”.

&It should be noted that Morgane has not connected to her social networks since the day of her disappearance. A new appeal for witnesses was launched this Monday to gather new information. “A mailbox was open for any witness: morgane@gendarmerie.interieur.fr”, indicated Colonel St&eacutephane Privat.

 

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“We renew the appeal to bring us any credible element on Morgane's disappearance. An email box has been opened for any witness: morgane@gendarmerie.interieur.fr” said Colonel Stéphane Privat, commander of the Côtes-d'Armor gendarmerie, before closing the press conference in the company of Nicolas Heitz, public prosecutor of Saint-Brieuc.

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17:02 – New human and material resources deployed

Stéphane Privat, the colonel in charge of the investigation, returned to the resources deployed by the gendarmerie forces: “The nautical resources did not allow us to find any clues. Searches were also carried out in the woods, fields and near the family home.” Some elements nevertheless seem to converge on a single location, since “all the tracking carried out by the dogs led to the Castel-Pic district, in Guingamp. A drone is currently still “searching the most difficult to access places”.

As for social networks, the colonel reports that “investigators specializing in new technologies are notably at ’œwork". But for the time being, "no connection of Morgane has been found since last Monday on social networks", deplores the prosecutor Nicolas Heitz.

16:53 – Her comrades émentions des "scarifications"

During the hearings, many of Morgane's classmates and friends described her as a “kind, discreet, reserved and even shy” student. But “some noticed a certain sadness in her,” the magistrate reported. It appeared that Morgane may have made worrying remarks and could have been experiencing real malaise. Indeed, some of her classmates spoke to investigators about “scarifications” that she “would have inflicted on herself”. The teenager had also confided to her tennis teacher that she “had been the victim of harassment last year”, adds Nicolas Heitz.

16:49 – A possible “telephone addiction”

The hearings with Morgane's parents, Aurore and Yoann Rivoal, revealed that the disputes with their daughter “always originated around the use of Morgane's cell phone,” the prosecutor said. The weekend before her disappearance, the family argued over a hidden TikTok account. To punish her, Morgane's father broke her his phone and took his SIM card.

“A tennis coach had noticed her addiction to the telephone and a certain isolation. She allegedly confided to him, as well as to another teacher, that she could have been the victim of harassment last year,” the prosecutor added.

16:35 – Conversations with adult men were found on her social networks

“More than 110 hearings were conducted,” said prosecutor Nicolas Heitz at the press conference on Monday, December 2. Among those questioned were adult men with whom the 13-year-old girl had been chatting on social media. One of them, aged 21 and living in Drôme, “had created a Snapchat account for Morgane's benefit”. The magistrate specifies that “the search of her mobile phone” had allowed the discovery of “several child pornography images not concerning her”. Another, in Eure, aged 29, had been in contact with her on social networks. Unfortunately, no relevant evidence emerged from the interviews with the two men.

16:22 – A farewell message dedicated to his parents

New information was released about Morgane Rivoal during the press conference of the public prosecutor of Saint-Brieuc, Nicolas Heitz. The theory of her running away is thus strongly fueled by her comments: “She had posted a story on social networks saying that she was going to leave”. Investigators also found a farewell message in her trash with the inscription: “Dad, mom, sorry, I'm leaving”.  She is said to have written this note after her argument with her parents about her use of social networks. Despite these clues, "no leads have been "discarded" by the police, the magistrate specified.

15:10 – The helicopter was dispatched again for the search

This is the third time in a week that the gendarmes have dispatched a helicopter. It arrived from Rennes to fly over the countryside and help investigators find Morgane Rivoal, who has been missing since November 25. According to Ouest-France, Captain Le Morvan, second in command of the Guingamp gendarmerie company, “is to go up to edge to guide the search from the sky”.

In the afternoon, ten soldiers from the Psig (Pelotons de surveillance et d’intervention de la Gendarmerie) from Saint-Brieuc and Guingamp inspected a large nearby cornfield, but the operation yielded nothing. The gendarmes therefore continued their search by going door-to-door and inspecting the surrounding woods. 

14:50 – Morgane's parents in turmoil

This Friday, November 29, on France 3 Bretagne, Morgane's parents spoke out about the rumors about them since their daughter's disappearance: “Social networks, that was the subject of our argument. Today, on these networks, some people tell us that our daughter has been found, that's false. On these same networks, they also say that we have been violent with our daughter, that's false, says Aurore Rivoal. Her phone was taken away, it was broken, but we never used violence on our daughter. Let's be clear: it was an argument, like we've had before. “All these rumors hurt us.”

11:54 – “A lot of human and technical resources” engaged

According to the public prosecutor, “numerous human and technical resources were immediately engaged by the gendarmerie soldiers under the direction of the Saint-Brieuc public prosecutor's office”. The investigation is in fact being conducted by the research brigade of the Guingamp gendarmerie company and reinforced by soldiers from the Rennes research section. À These teams also include a helicopter and a tracking dog.