‘Backpackers in the Vietnamese city of Hanoi are claiming to have spotted missing 28-year-old French scientist, Manon Junot. 19-year-old Elleke Sloof and her 20-year-old boyfriend Jaap Melis, who are students from the Netherlands, believe they spotted Ms Junot by the lake in the heart of the city in a confused state. Ms Junot has been missing since New Year’s Day when she didn’t board a flight homebound for Paris.
‘Our Asia correspondent Heidi Adler has been following the story and is live in Hanoi. Heidi, what credibility do these claims have?’
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‘Well, Rita, Elleke Sloof and Jaap Melis aren’t the first people to claim to have sighted Ms Junot since she was last recorded on that CCTV footage from Chiang Rai, Thailand, in mid-December. But this couple are being listened to, and their account is enough for the Vietnamese authorities to have said they will open enquiries into it. Why? They’re keeping tight-lipped at the moment, but this sighting took place before the family released further details of Ms Junot’s mental health, so parts of their description of Ms Junot’s behaviour might concur with what the family have experienced in the past.
‘Ms Junot’s father, Andre Junot, released more details this week of his daughter’s mental-health history, including an episode of paranoid schizophrenia while she was studying at the Université Sorbonne in Paris in 2010.
‘Here’s what Miss Sloof and Mr Melis said at a press conference back in Amsterdam today.’
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‘We were just taking a stroll around the lake when we saw a woman matching Manon Junot’s description – she had the same clothes even: the blue shorts and the white vest; they looked dirty, as if they were her only clothes. She even had an ankle chain on her foot. We couldn’t believe it. She was walking with a local man, he kept putting his arm around her. We walked behind them for a while, trying to keep up, and it was only when Jaap called out her name – he shouted “Manon!” and she looked around – that we thought, “That’s it, it’s her!”’
THE MALE BACKPACKER SPEAKS:
‘That’s when she started behaving erratically. She looked panicked, and was breaking into a run, looking back at us. The man was struggling to keep up with her. Shouting things at her as he tried to stay with her. She looked pretty savage, wild in the eyes. We didn’t want to alarm her further, so we went straight to the police.’
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‘So, Rita, police here in Hanoi are now going through CCTV footage from the central district of the city, and following up with hospitals and asking questions to see if it was indeed Manon Junot, and if so, who she was with. We know from the 2010 incident that Ms Junot was reported missing by her friends but was found in hospital two days later. It’s now been 100 days, and the family say they’re heartbroken. Perhaps this sighting will give them fresh hope. Rita, back to you.’
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‘Thanks, Heidi. That’s Heidi Adler, in Hanoi with the latest.’