The mysterious disappearance of Pauline Picard

Thousands of children go missing around the world every day. Most of them are still there. Some die or disappear without a trace, like the children of the Sodder family. But there are also very strange cases, such as the disappearance of two-year-old French girl Pauline Picard in 1922. They seemed to have found her, but then strange things began to happen and the story had a sad ending.

On a warm April day, two-year-old Pauline Picard was playing in the courtyard of her parents' home in Brittany, France. The child's father and mother are busy with household chores and only occasionally glance out the window at their daughter. It's 1922 and in the countryside no one has heard of maniacs and child abductors. Therefore, the Picard family is not worried about the child, who, in their opinion, can only be threatened by rain in the yard.

But when the girl’s mother once again looked out the window, she saw that the yard was empty. Pauline's parents examined the area around the house several times, interviewed neighbors and, realizing that something serious had happened, went to the police. Law enforcement officers immediately organized a search, which involved volunteers.

Search teams combed fields and forests, examined barns and wells, but the child seemed to have disappeared. Advertisements posted far from the place of the disappearance did not help either - no one saw the girl. After several weeks of unsuccessful searches, Pauline's parents fell into despair. But when there was no hope left, a miracle suddenly happened. A policeman from the city of Cherbourg met a girl who looked exactly like Pauline. He took her to an orphanage and notified management about the discovery.

The police showed the inconsolable parents a photo of the found girl. They immediately recognized the child as their missing daughter. On May 8, the newspaper Le Matin published an interview with Madame Picard. The woman told reporters about Pauline’s miraculous return. She and her husband boarded the train and went to Cherbourg to pick up their baby.

The girl returned home and, it seems, we can put an end to the story. But not everything is so simple and the found child suddenly began to behave strangely. Pauline's parents noticed that the girl did not recognize them at all. Outwardly it was their daughter, but the behavior was very different. They attributed all this to severe stress and began to wait for Pauline to return to her normal state. It is worth saying that the girl was the youngest of the Picard children and her brothers and sisters also had no doubt that this was their sister.

Despite the girl's unusual behavior, everyone was happy that she was found. There were many questions in this story. The main one is who kidnapped Pauline and took her to Cherbourg, 320 km from home. The police did not investigate the case too zealously, because the missing person was found and this is the main thing.

Meanwhile, more and more questions arose for the child. Pauline behaved like a stranger in her home, did not understand the local dialect and continued to shun her parents and brothers and sisters. The mother and father began to have doubts - is this really their girl? And on May 27, a terrible event occurred that further shook the Picards’ confidence.

A cyclist riding along a forest road 800 meters from the Picards' house found the body of a little girl on the side of the road. It was missing feet, hands and head, and besides that, it was badly decomposed. Children's things were neatly folded nearby. Pauline's parents were horrified to recognize their daughter's clothes.

The place where the body was found had been examined by police and volunteers many times before. It was obvious that he had been planted quite recently. The publication Le Petit Parisien devoted a large article to the find. Journalists described another strange moment. Local farmer Yves Martin, who was considered insane, asked Pauline's mother if she was sure that her daughter had been found. Then, without waiting for an answer, he said that it was his fault, and then immediately left.

A decomposed head was found not far from the body. But it was obvious that it was too big to belong to a child. Despite all the efforts of the police, the investigation has reached a dead end. The only person who could possibly shed light on the series of mysterious events was the mad Yves Martin. They tried to interrogate him, but without success, they sent him to a mental hospital.

The Picards have come to terms with the fact that the girl from Cherbourg is not their daughter. The child's real parents were not found, and the baby was sent to an orphanage. At this point, her traces are lost. The body found near the road was declared the remains of Pauline Picard. The examination was unable to determine the cause of death. Perhaps it was a brutal murder. Or maybe the girl left the yard and was torn to pieces by dogs or forest animals. But who carried the body and folded the clothes? Who owns the head? Unfortunately, what actually happened to the child and who was to blame was never found out.