MOURMELON-LE-GRAND — 1980 · Missing Person
The Missing Soldiers of Mourmelon
From January 1980 eight young men, most of them conscripts hitchhiking on leave, disappeared around the Mourmelon military camp in the Marne. The army long classified some cases as 'desertion', delaying a serious investigation. The body of one soldier was found in 1982 and that of an Irish tourist in 1987. In August 1988 a former non-commissioned officer from the camp was caught with a bound hitchhiker in his vehicle and was jailed for that offence. In 2003 the same man went on trial in Reims for the murder of three of the missing, but took his own life during the proceedings in October 2003, ending the prosecution. The fate of most of the missing remains unknown; the case is counted among the French justice system's greatest failures.
- Date
- 1980
- Place
- Marne, France, Mourmelon-le-Grand, FR
- Category
- Missing Person
- Case Status
- Unsolved
- Coordinates
- 49.1320, 4.3650 ↗
Timeline of Events
- January 1980The first disappearance occurred near Mourmelon.
- 31 October 1982A missing soldier's body was found near Mailly-le-Camp.
- 9 August 1988The camp's former NCO was caught with a bound hitchhiker in his vehicle.
- 1990He was jailed for ten years for that offence.
- October 2003He took his own life while on trial over three disappearances; the case lapsed.
Sources
- Le Nouvel Obs — Militaire exemplaire, bourreau présumé (2003) nouvelobs.com ↗
- Le Monde — Mourmelon davası arşiv haberi (Ekim 2003) lemonde.fr ↗
- Wikipedia — Affaire des disparus de Mourmelon fr.wikipedia.org ↗
- Le Nouvel Obs
- Le Monde
- Wikipedia
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.