French police investigate suspected infanticide in Blois after five-year-old found dead
A five-year-old girl was found dead on 21 September 2026 at her father's home in Blois, France, while her 42-year-old father was hospitalized with self-inflicted wounds.
Discovery at the residence
Police officers in Blois discovered the body of a five-year-old girl on Monday, 21 September 2026, inside her father's home located in the Saint-Georges neighborhood in the south of the city. The child had spent the weekend with her 42-year-old father, who was required to take her to school on Monday morning. When the girl did not arrive in class, school officials sent an email to her mother in the morning and later followed up with a phone call in the afternoon. Unable to contact her former partner, the mother alerted the local police station. Investigators tracked the father's mobile phone signal to the area surrounding his home, arriving at the residence in the late afternoon. After receiving no answer at the entrance, police entered the house through a window.
Medical intervention and hospital transfer
Inside the house, officers found the girl deceased on a bed, while her father was found unconscious in critical condition with a bladed weapon nearby. The 42-year-old man had sustained multiple knife wounds across his body, including severe lacerations to his neck and throat. Firefighters and emergency medical service (SMUR) personnel treated the man at the scene before transferring him to the Blois Hospital Center. He was later taken to a hospital in Tours to undergo surgical treatment for a pneumothorax. Public prosecutor Stéphane Javet stated that the father's vital prognosis was not compromised, though his medical condition prevented investigators from placing him in formal custody or conducting interviews.
The most likely hypothesis is that of an infanticide, followed by an attempted suicide.
Forensic inquiry and poisoning hypothesis
An initial medical examination of the five-year-old victim revealed no visible external injuries on her body. However, investigators located multiple packages of pharmaceutical medications inside the room where she was discovered, leading authorities to investigate potential poisoning. A judicial autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, 22 September 2026, to determine the exact cause of death and provide samples for toxicological testing. Stéphane Javet indicated that investigators are gathering physical evidence and reviewing telephone communications to reconstruct the sequence of events.
We are in an information-gathering phase, we are now seeking to understand the reasons for carrying out this act.
- Father collects five-year-old daughter for scheduled weekend visitation.
- School records child's absence and sends email notification to mother.
- School calls mother by telephone after receiving no morning response.
- Police enter residence through window and find deceased girl and injured father.
- Judicial autopsy scheduled to establish cause of death and toxicological results.
Custody disputes and neighborhood reactions
The child's parents had been separated since 2024 and experienced persistent domestic tensions following their breakup. Due to the high level of family conflict, a juvenile court judge had previously ordered an open-environment educational assistance measure (AEMO). Under French law, this judicial measure is applied when a child's safety, health, or education is at risk, enabling social services to monitor the household without removing the child. In 2025, the father had also received a six-month suspended prison sentence following a conviction for making malicious phone calls. Local residents in the Saint-Georges district expressed disbelief following the discovery, noting that the father routinely referred to the child as his princess. Investigators from the Blois police commissariat will place the suspect in custody once hospital staff confirm his recovery.
