Overview
- Algerian authorities placed the 41-year-old partner of Manon Relandeau in provisional detention after his arrest under an international warrant, with the couple’s 15‑month‑old child found with him.
- French gendarmes widened the search near Saint‑Étienne‑de‑Montluc, using more than 100 personnel, canine units, a river team, helicopter overflights, and IRCGN drones that map ground anomalies by day and heat sources at night.
- Investigators are working across marshland and narrow tidal channels that are hard to reach, which is why they brought in the national forensic institute’s drone team to scan large areas faster than foot patrols can cover.
- Two people were placed under formal investigation and held in pre‑trial detention on counts that include criminal conspiracy to prepare a crime and altering a crime scene.
- A 42‑year‑old taxi driver held in the case will ask to be released from custody, with his lawyer disputing any link to Relandeau and flagging an interrogation without counsel during a national lawyers’ strike, while investigators point to an unusual trip pattern and a car key from the main suspect allegedly given as payment.