A post-mortem examination has revealed a five-year-old girl who disappeared from her bed at home in southern France died of asphyxiation. However, further tests revealed the youngster, identified only as Madison, had not been sexually assaulted. Nor where there any signs of strangulation. The news came as 4,000 relatives, friends and neighbours took to the streets of Eyguieres, near Arles, to show support for the grieving family.

“Most people know the family somehow, and even those that don’t know them… I think people have come from surrounding villages to lend their support, because this could happen to anyone, really,” said one participant. “We have to give the family support, and just never forget, really.” added another onlooker. Madison was snatched from her bed sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning. The alarm was raised when the child’s mother found the room empty. Madison’s body was found at a house in the village on Sunday. The occupant, a 24-year-old man, is in hospital in Marseille after trying to take his own life. Meanwhile, the lower house of Parliament observed a minute’s silence for Madison and for a four-year-old boy who was sexually assaulted and then murdered in Eastern France over the weekend.

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