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Montpellier Prosecutors Take Over Aveyron Kidnapping Case as Searches Intensify

The handoff signals an escalated criminal inquiry using national forensics plus cross‑border alerts.

Overview

  • A 40-year-old woman and her 13-year-old son vanished from their home in Vailhourles on Friday, prompting an inquiry for kidnapping and unlawful confinement.
  • Prosecutors identify the father, Cédric Prizzon, a former police officer with prior convictions, as the prime suspect who is also missing.
  • His current partner and their young child are also unaccounted for, according to investigators.
  • Rodez prosecutors transferred the case to Montpellier’s criminal instruction unit, which says no arrests have been made.
  • Dozens of gendarmes are deployed with drones, a helicopter, divers, dogs, forensic labs, and national cyber teams, and investigators have alerted neighboring countries due to possible flight abroad after a 2021 trip to Spain.