After recovering their missing daughter, her parents only took a step back later – the grim find left no room for doubt.

Pauline Picard Search

Local police and many volunteers helped Pauline’s discouraged parents locate the baby. However, the diligent searches were unsuccessful: people were unable to detect any trace of the missing girl, and their hopes gradually faded. But Pauline’s parents never stopped believing that their daughter would show up. And indeed, a few weeks after Pauline’s disappearance, hope shone that the baby was alive.

News broke that a girl matching Pauline’s description had been seen at Sherborough. The girl was seen by a police officer who asked a local shelter to take care of her for a while. The police showed the photo of the baby to Pauline’s mother and she, recognizing her daughter, shed tears. Le Matin French wrote on May 8 that Ms. Picard had said, “This is my daughter.” The couple hurriedly boarded the train and arrived in Cherbourg. But after chatting with the girl for a couple of hours at the shelter, they realized that she didn’t recognize them. The girl actually looked like Pauline, but she behaved very differently.

Back to family

However, they took the baby home, hoping that his memory would regain. Le Matin newspaper also wrote on May 12 that Pauline was immediately recognized by Picard’s other children. Neighbors did not doubt that this is the real Paulina. Local police rested relieved to have found the boy. Everyone was happy with the story’s happy ending and no one seemed to have any questions about how Pauline was doing in Cherbourg. How could you cover more than 300 kilometers in just a couple of weeks?

Pauline’s return to the family did not go as her parents planned. From the beginning, the girl was very scared and shy and did not speak her native dialect at all. Parents dismissed these strange trauma traits and ignored them for a few more weeks. At one point, it turned out that the girl was getting old Pauline again and beginning to remember her home. However, the more time the family spent together, the greater the parents’ doubts about whether it was their son.

The discovery of a small body

On May 27, Le Petit Parisien reported that a cyclist had found the body of a girl about 800 meters from Picard’s home. The corpses were heavily crushed and missing hands, feet and heads. Next to the body were carefully folded clothes. Pauline’s mother indicated that it was the same clothing Pauline was wearing on the day of her disappearance. What was interesting and strange was that the remains lay in a place that the police had already inspected many times during the initial searches immediately after Pauline’s disappearance. The locals also confirmed that they had passed through this place many times, but there were no remains here. People speculated that someone had dropped the girl’s body at this location recently.

In the same article, it was written that a crazy local farmer named Yves Martin asked Picard if they had found little Pauline. When the parents answered affirmatively, he asked them if they were sure it was their daughter. Then he said he was guilty and left with a crazy gleam in his eyes.

On the same day, May 27, Le Matin reported that investigators had found a head near the body. However, they soon discovered that this head was too large and could not belong to a small body.

Inexplicable secrets and unanswered questions

So at that time, there was a girl living with the family who looked like Pauline but behaved completely differently from Pauline. About a mile from Picard’s home, a bicyclist had found the remains of a young girl with Pauline’s clothes folded beside her. The parts of the body that could help identify the body (the hands, feet and head) were missing, although the part that most attacks wildlife was intact. The skull found near the remains did not belong to the remains. Not only that, the mad farmer declared that he was the culprit, but what was the only reason to guess.

This case left many questions unanswered. Many residents still thought that Pauline was still alive somewhere. If so, who was this little girl wandering around Cherbourg alone, and why did her own parents never miss her? How could the Picard family and neighbors identify her as Pauline? What did Yves Martin mean? Was he responsible for one or both victims? And whose skull was found by the police? Was it just a case where everyone wanted so desperately to believe that a missing girl was alive that the family decided to adopt an unknown girl as their own daughter?

For the rest of their lives, the Picards searched for answers to what happened to their daughter. Meanwhile, the little girl, found in Cherbourg, was taken to an orphanage in June, where she died of a serious illness a year later. Until now, no one has been able to find out his identity.