Rosny-sous-Bois, July 22nd, 2014

 

From: M. Gérard Calmette, Director of the Disaster Victim Identification Unit (DVIU), Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie, Rosny-sous-Bois

To: Lieutenant Bertrand Donnadieu, National Gendarmerie, Territorial Brigade of the District of Étretat, Seine-Maritime

 

Dear Monsieur Donnadieu,

Following your letter of July 13th, 2014, regarding the discovery of three skeletons on Yport beach on July 12th, 2014, our service has devoted itself with utmost diligence to this troubling case.

Although to date none of the three individuals has been identified, preliminary forensic examinations confirm that the bones belong to three men, adults, aged between twenty and thirty at the time of their death.

We could find no evidence of significant trauma to the three skulls, or any other part of the skeletons, which seems to rule out the possibility that they were killed by the collapse of the cave walls. However, violent or non-natural death remains a possibility, taking into account the circumstances of the discovery of these bodies. Complementary chemical examinations will allow us to test the possibility of death by poisoning.

Establishing the time of death of these three individuals is proving to be one of the most disconcerting aspects of this inquiry. As is customary, we’ve given each of the three skeletons a temporary identifier that will be used for the duration of the inquiry. In this case we have assigned three names whose alphabetical order corresponds to the chronology of their deaths.

In fact, and here we touch upon a particularly difficult point to explain, the three individuals died on three different dates, which rules out a death that we could term “collective” or “simultaneous,” whether it was an accident that befell a group of cavers, a triple murder or indeed collective suicide.

The first of these skeletons, Albert, died no later than the summer of 2004.

The second, Bernard, died several months after Albert, probably between autumn 2004 and winter 2005.

The third, Clovis, died in 2014, between February and March, so about five months ago. Given the acidity of the chalk caves in which the corpses have lain since then, the swiftness of the decomposition of this last body seems hardly surprising.

 

To conclude, Lieutenant, and as you yourself observed in your letter, it seems difficult to dissociate the identification procedure of these three skeletons from the case commonly referred to as the “red-scarf killer,” one of whose victims, Morgane Avril, was found murdered in June 2004, not far from the place where the three skeletons were themselves discovered.

 

However, until we have the results of further examinations, including DNA analysis of the bones, we are unable to determine what direct connection there might be between the death of these three men about whom we know nothing and the murder of the girls.

Please rest assured, Lieutenant, that we doing everything in our power to progress this inquiry as speedily as possible. Unfortunately, as a result of recent cutbacks, our personnel cannot devote themselves to this case alone. Moreover, since the deaths of Albert and Bernard are covered by the ten-year statute of limitations, I regret to inform you that they cannot be considered a priority.

Cordial regards,

Gérard Calmette

Director, DVIU