Canton orders autopsy Three children stabbed to death - mother found dead in Valais

Three children were stabbed to death in a hamlet in France. Now their mother has also been found dead in Valais. The final identification is still pending, however, and the canton has ordered an autopsy.

This article was last fully updated at 19:55.

A 45-year-old mother is believed to have killed her three children on Tuesday in Taninges in Haute-Savoie, France. On Wednesday, a female body was found in Champéry VS in a car that was normally driven by the woman. However, investigations into her identification are still ongoing.

This was announced by the investigating magistrate responsible for Bonneville in a statement on Wednesday evening. In order to be able to confirm with certainty that it is the mother, further clarifications are still required.

The exact circumstances of the death are not yet known, and the canton of Valais has ordered an autopsy, it added. Judicial sources close to the case had previously told the AFP news agency that the Valais police had confirmed to French investigators that the body was that of the 45-year-old woman who had been wanted since Tuesday.

Children aged between two and 13

The three dead children were found on Tuesday in the family home in Taninges. They were two boys aged two and eleven and a girl aged 13. They were reportedly stabbed to death.

Their mother, a primary school teacher who was described as depressed, has been the subject of a manhunt since the bodies were found. A murder investigation has been launched. Boris Duffau, the public prosecutor of Bonneville, explained that the exact circumstances of the crime must be clarified. The children are at the coroner's office in Grenoble for an autopsy.

A large police force was deployed in the search on Tuesday and Wednesday. Police forces searched the mountains and forests around the village of Taninges by helicopter. Divers searched the surrounding waters.

From a hamlet with eleven inhabitants

The suspected crime scene is located on the edge of the village of Taninges in a hamlet with eleven inhabitants. The three victims were the only children living there. Their grandparents live nearby.

As AFP reported, the crime caused a lot of emotion in the village of Taninges, which has a population of 3500. The municipal administration called the Care Team. The village in the department of Haute-Savoie is located around 50 kilometers from Geneva and 70 kilometers from Champéry.

SDA