Interview: daughter of missing Briton in France explains how public can help

The daughter of a 75-year-old British woman has spoken to The Connexion six months after her mother, Stephanie Sparks Thomson, was reported missing in France. 

Ms Thomson disappeared on the afternoon of January 29, and was last seen at Les Vigères campsite (Le Chalard, Haute-Vienne), where she lived in a caravan with her late husband. 

She is thought to have left on foot and did not take money, a phone or ID with her.

Ms Thomson’s daughter, Tracy, has been travelling between France and her home in the UK to help with the search and to be with her father, who died on May 26 after being hospitalised with lung cancer.

“Working with the French police and the hospital system has been a nightmare, in trying to get information or updates on what is happening. The only contact I really had with them was when I was in France. As dad got more poorly, I would go to the police station to try and get updates. 

“When I last spoke to them they were going to take the [sniffer] dogs back out at some point, but since then things have changed with missing children in France and the dogs are now being used elsewhere which I can totally understand, but then that has meant that everything has stopped for mum,” she said. 

The gendarmerie initially searched the area around Le Chalard with sniffer dogs, divers, helicopters, drones and an underwater sonar device. However, authorities are no longer actively searching for Ms Thomson, and are only investigating possible sightings.

Tracy created a public Facebook group called Find Stephanie Thomson Sparks, which has helped to spread the appeal for information. 

The most recent supposed sighting was at an Aldi shop in Mortain-Bocage [Manche]. 

“We have had a couple of things like that from Facebook but nothing from anywhere nearby that fits with mum or where she would have gone,” said Tracy.

“I pass these on to the British consulate to pass on to the gendarmes for me because I have no direct contact at all with them now. I never hear anything back on them,” she said.  

Tracy is keen to find a way of maintaining a line of contact with authorities in France, for updates or to share new information.

“I tried searching for associations but again, not speaking French it just makes that so hard.

“I had a friend get in touch with [the gendarmes] to ask if I could have an email address to get in touch with them if I needed to, but they refused,” said Tracy.

Targeted by a scam

While social media has boosted the appeal and created a supportive community, it has also attracted people with malicious intent. 

Tracy was contacted by a Facebook account claiming to work for Julien Courbet - the host of a French radio show on RTL titled Ça peut vous arriver.

“They told me it was a missing persons show and sent me a load of emails with information and then started asking for money - pretty much hounding me for just short of €3,000. When I looked further into it, they were clearly not from the show. I got totally duped with it initially. I didn’t send them any money but that isn’t the point.  

“I put a post on Facebook saying these people are fraudulent and then they started saying they were going to prosecute me for spreading lies about the show. They have been trying to ring me but I won’t answer the phone. 

“It is a new battle every day. I have had nobody really to report that to either,” she said.

‘Trying to understand what is going on is so difficult’

Tracy’s parents first came to France on holiday 15 years ago, when her mum turned 60.

“Mum had never been abroad before and so [the holiday] surprised me because mum had never been an overly confident person so it felt like a big thing,” said Tracy. 

While the couple were in France they found a caravan in the Parc Verger campsite, on the outskirts of Champagnac La Riviere (Haute-Vienne). They loved the experience so much that they decided to move. 

“Mum loved walking and loved the countryside, so they would spend weeks going round in the motorhome in France. And that is essentially what took them over there,” said Tracy.   

“It seemed perfect until dad got really poorly, and with mum not speaking French - as I know because I’ve found the same thing - trying to understand what is going on is so difficult. 

“There are no translators in hospitals and staff don’t have the time to sit and explain what is happening which I think probably had an impact on why mum disappeared,” said Tracy.   

How to help

Tracy, who works in a school, has used up her paid leave with the journeys to and from France so far this year, and feels she will be unable to return once schools start back in September. 

She believes her mum is still in France and is appealing for any possible support from residents, particularly those in the Haute-Vienne department. 

“I know that people can travel over borders without passports but… I cannot imagine that she would have done that,” she said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the local Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche gendarmerie on 05 55 75 00 36.

Those living in France can find a printable missing persons poster here.

Ms Thomson is slim with grey hair and was wearing dark trousers, black or grey boots and a light blue puffer jacket (as seen in the image on the poster) on the day she went missing

Note the above poster states Ms Thomson is 72 years old. It has since been confirmed that she was 74 when she went missing and is now 75 years old.