Body found in manhunt over double teacher murder in south-west France
The suspect is thought to have fled to Spain
The Spanish Guardia Civil became involved in the search, along with the French Police nationale and gendarmerie, after the suspect was thought to have fled to Spain
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A body has been found amid the hunt for a suspect in the murder of two teachers in south-west France last July.
It was discovered in northern Spain, the Pau prosecutor confirmed to local source France Bleu Béarn Bigorre.
The body has not yet been identified. Analysis, including DNA testing, is underway.
Victims shot
The victims were Gabriel Fourmigué and Aurélie Pardon. They had both been fatally shot.
Both were teachers at the Desaix collège, located in the centre of Tarbes (Occitanie). Mr Fourmigué was 55, a PE teacher (and former world bobsleigh champion), and had two daughters. Ms Pardon was 32, a French teacher, and had two sons.
Ms Pardon was married to the suspect, Cédric Tauleygne, who was then aged 34. He was the father of their sons, but the couple was in the process of separating.
Mr Fourmigué and Ms Pardon had reportedly been in a relationship for several weeks before the murders.
‘Investigations underway’
Prosecutor Mr Jarry called for people to refrain from speculation until the body has been identified.
He said: “Investigations are underway to confirm or deny if this is indeed the body of Cédric Tauleygne.”
Police began working on the case immediately after the murders. Since then, dozens of gendarmerie have been searching the Hautes-Pyrénées and neighbouring departments.
They have been focusing partly on the area in which the suspect lived, near Pouyastruc and Barabazan-Dessus. Mr Tauleygne worked in Béarn, in Bordes, on the helicopter motor production site Safran.
However, he was then thought to have fled to Spain to escape discovery, prompting the Guardia Civil to become involved in the search too. They joined with the French Police nationale to search in and around the town of Jaca, in Huesca, where the suspect was thought to be living.
He is thought to have travelled to the murder site (the home of one of the victims) on a motorbike and used the same bike to flee afterwards. Spanish newspapers reported that this motorbike was later discovered near the Spanish town of Peña Oroel.
Mr Tauleygne was a former reservist in the gendarmerie, and a former reservist in the 35th Régiment d'Artillerie Parachutiste (parachute artillery regiment, RAP) in Tarbes, as well as an experienced sports shooter, and cyclist.
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