An investigation is underway to find traces of Beninese athlete Odile Ahouanwanou, 33, who has not been seen since September 10 near Rouen, the prosecution announced on Wednesday, saying it was prioritizing ” the hypothesis of a voluntary disappearance “.
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” As soon as this disappearance was reported on September 13, and since it was of a worrying nature, an investigation was opened to search for Ms. Ahouanwanou, and entrusted to the interdepartmental management of the Seine-Maritime national police. “, indicates in a press release the public prosecutor of Rouen, Sébastien Gallois. “At this stage, no element suggests the commission of an offence, the hypothesis of a voluntary disappearance is favoured”, underlines Mr Gallois.
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Heptathlon specialist Odile Ahouanwanou has been missing since September 10 from Sotteville-Lès-Rouen (Seine-Maritime). She dropped her child off at the childminder’s in the morning and didn’t come back to pick him up. “, indicates the department’s police in an appeal for witnesses, specifying that her last location was Neufchâtel-en-Bray. The investigators have notably proceeded to register the missing person in the wanted persons file, checked her lifestyle and heard several witnesses from her entourage, details the Rouen prosecutor. ” The police also contacted all organisations that could provide up-to-date information on his location: telephone operators, social landlords (video surveillance images), hospitals, banks, airlines, etc. ” he wrote.
Furthermore, the prosecution stated that it had contacted the child welfare services in order to assess the conditions of care of Ms Ahouanwanou’s child, who was temporarily handed over to a close friend of hers, to whom he was regularly entrusted. The athlete, aged 33, measuring 1.78 m, licensed with Stade Sottevillais, is a heptathlon specialist and finished in 8th position in this discipline at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Qatar. She took part in the London and Tokyo Olympic Games.