Rennes boy, 11, found dead ‘with towel tied around his neck’ as 2 teens arrested
An 11-year-old boy was found dead on the banks of the Vilaine River in the city of Rennes in northwestern France. A fisherman heard the cries of a child near the river at around 4:40pm on Sunday and called emergency services, but the boy was tragically pronounced dead at the scene.
Divers search for evidence in the Vilaine river near the site where the body of the boy was found dead(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Two teenagers have been questioned by police after an 11-year-old boy was discovered dead beside a river ‘with a wet towel tied around his neck’.
The boy, whose identity remains undisclosed, was found lifeless on the banks of the Vilaine River in Rennes, northwestern France.
An fishermen heard a child’s screams near the waterway at approximately 4:40pm on Sunday (May 24). He promptly alerted emergency services, with firefighters arriving at the scene by 4:50pm. Despite frantic rescue attempts, the young boy was sadly declared dead at the scene.
Following the heartbreaking discovery, French authorities launched a murder inquiry and have since made two arrests.
On Monday (May 25), a 16-year-old boy was apprehended at his residence while a 15-year-old girl was taken into custody after presenting herself at a police station, according to Rennes prosecutor Frederic Teillet.
“It is therefore the two young people who were seen with the victim at the scene on the afternoon of the incident who are currently in police custody” on charges of “murder of a minor,” he stated in an official announcement, reports the Mirror.
Teillet verified the victim’s age as 11, correcting earlier reports that suggested he was 12.
Local reports indicate that the boy’s mum had been frantically searching for him while the riverside tragedy was taking place.
He had informed her he was going angling in the vicinity with a mate. Officials confirmed the incident occurred “in a wooded area at the foot of several apartment buildings, below the bridge that crosses over the Vilaine River”.
The relationship between the three children remains a mystery.
The investigation is now under the jurisdiction of the organised and specialised crime division.
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.
