Search continues for girl who disappeared at Alps wedding

French prosecutor opens kidnapping investigation into the missing nine-year-old

A handout photograph of missing girl, Maelys. Photograph: Gendarmerie Nationale/AP
A handout photograph of missing girl, Maelys. Photograph: Gendarmerie Nationale/AP

French police are widening the search for a nine-year-old girl who disappeared during a wedding in the Alps, combing woods and streams and questioning more potential witnesses.

A photo and description of the girl has been posted and tweeted across France since she vanished at the weekend, and the local prosecutor opened a kidnapping investigation.

The national gendarme service said some 150 police divided up on Wednesday morning to broaden their search around the town of Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin. Divers, search dogs, volunteers and helicopters are also helping in the hunt.

Le Parisien newspaper reported that officers are questioning 250 people, including everyone who was at the wedding and at two other parties in the town on Saturday night, when the girl was last seen.

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She has been publicly identified only by her first name, Maelys.

AP