By Prosper Mene
In a shocking case that has stunned a small community in eastern France, police have arrested a 50-year-old woman after the bodies of two newborn infants were discovered in a freezer at a family home.
The discovery unfolded on Tuesday, February 10, when a man, reportedly the father or a family member, alerted authorities after finding one infant’s body in the freezer of his residence in Aillevillers-et-Lyaumont, a quiet town in the Haute-Saône department. Upon arriving at the scene, gendarmes uncovered a second newborn’s remains in the same freezer.
Suspicion immediately centered on the woman, who had reportedly left the family home abruptly in December without explanation. She was located and arrested on Wednesday in Boulogne-Billancourt, a western suburb of Paris, where one of her sons lives. She has since been placed in police custody.
During questioning, the suspect confessed to giving birth to the two infants and freezing their bodies shortly afterward, according to Besançon prosecutor Cédric Logelin. She reportedly expressed remorse, stating she was “sorry for her children” and her family, while crying frequently during interviews. The births are believed to have occurred between 2011 and 2018, though exact details are still under investigation.
The woman is the mother of nine children from previous relationships. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday to determine the precise circumstances and cause of the infants’ deaths. Authorities have opened an investigation into suspected infanticide, the latest in a series of similar tragic cases to emerge in France in recent years.
The discovery has deeply shaken the local community in Aillevillers-et-Lyaumont, with some local media describing the village as already burdened by past violent incidents.
