In just ten days, Aude Fago and Sonia Vacheret disappeared into Doubs. While the investigation is still ongoing, General François Daoust, former director of the Institute of Criminal Research of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN), deciphers the investigative work on this type of case.
The former director of the Institute of Criminal Research of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN), General François Daoust, deciphers the progress of the investigation into the disappearances of Aude Fago and Sonia Vacheret in Doubs, less than three weeks apart.
La Dépêche du Midi: How do investigators work on disappearances like this?
General Francois Daoust: After the start of a judicial investigation, the direction of the course of action is entrusted to the investigating judge. Based on the General Judicial Commission, the Officers of the Judicial Police (OPJ) and investigation managers take action and conduct in-depth investigations on the ground, constantly guiding and informing the investigating officers (magistrates) of potential progress.
How does such an investigation proceed when we are faced with two almost simultaneous disappearances in a limited geographical area?
The indictment reports purely procedural elements, but at this point it does not appear to legally link the two cases, which is certainly not to say that investigators on the ground are not making cross-references or connections.
“Did she have an accident? Did she have a bad meeting?”
There are two main parallel elements that are activated immediately. On the one hand, teams are sent to the scene to conduct a direct physical search, trying to find a body, someone injured, or pick up someone along the path of survival. Given the time that has passed, all options can be considered. This is why clean searches, searches, combing are organized… On the other hand, and this is related work, judicial police teams are actively operating behind the scenes. It is they who create the habitat for each of the missing: family, neighborhood, detailed study of the alleged places of disappearance. Everything is scrutinized to understand who they are, who they dated, and where the life breakup occurred.
Aude Fago’s car was found in a wooded area near the scene of the disappearance. What is the procedure to follow in this type of configuration?
The specific location where the vehicle was found can be critical. Hunting and extensive research are organized here. The plot is to see what could happen in the immediate vicinity of the passenger compartment. Did she have an accident? Was she injured? Did she have an unpleasant situation when she parked or got out of the car? This is why investigators conduct physical searches in the field while others conduct investigations in offices.
Technical and digital research is often seen as the cornerstone of such businesses…
In these types of investigations, legal demands are addressed directly to telecom operators, the goal of which is to obtain the history and identity of all phones and all SIM cards located in the area of the disappearance. And we need to think about this in a broader sense than just traditional mobile telephony. Working on the car’s built-in GPS, which constantly communicates with relay antennas, is as important as telephony.
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The disappearances of Aude Fago and Sonia Vacheré: a nurse and a teacher disappeared within 3 weeks of each other… What do we know about the investigations?
After collecting this data, the huge challenge is to deal with this mass of information. This raw data goes to telephony specialists, such as the National Gendarmerie Institute of Criminal Research. The goal: to make them readable and convenient for operatives.
Do traditional survey methods still have their place alongside this technology?
This is absolutely obvious. Local evidence research is being conducted on the ground. The fundamentals of the profession cannot be changed. This is door-to-door, the basis of departmental gendarmerie. It needs to be carried out comprehensively in the early hours and days before the readings become unstable or, worse, distorted by what people hear on television or read in the local press and social media.