FRENCH cops have launched a murder investigation after the body of a 11-year-old girl was found in woodland near her school.

Louise Lasalle, from Essonne in northern France, vanished shortly before 2pm on Friday after leaving André-Maurois middle school in Épinay-sur-Orge.

When she failed to return home, her worried parents alerted authorities, while her sister took to social media in a desperate plea for help.

“My little sister Louise Lassalle disappeared at 2 pm near Andre Maurois college in Epinay. She went through the Bas Follet trail,” she wrote.

“She had a purple backpack with a butterfly on it and a navy blue coat. She [had] a large white bandage on her chin too.”

But hopes of finding Louise alive were shattered when officers discovered her body early Saturday morning in Parc des Templiers woodlands, less than a mile from her school.

CCTV footage showed the young girl heading toward the park before she disappeared, according to Le Parisien.

A large-scale police operation was launched, involving specialist search dogs, drones, and a helicopter.

Authorities have since arrested a 23-year-old man, reportedly seen on surveillance footage, and his 20-year-old partner.

The pair were taken into custody at their home in Épinay-sur-Orge just before 12.45 am on Saturday — before Louise’s body was found.

Public prosecutor Grégoire Dulin confirmed that “an investigation into the murder of a minor has been opened” and is now being handled by the Versailles organised and specialised crime division.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.

The local authority expressed its condolences, stating: “As soon as [Louise’s] disappearance was reported, all means were deployed to try to find her.”

It comes after a Brit woman who was killed alongside her husband at their holiday home in France is the mother of a former Hollyoaks actor.

Dawn Searle, 56, and her husband Andrew, 62, were found dead on Thursday in the hamlet of Les Pesquiès, near Villefranche-de-Rouergue.

Officials initially believed they were killed in a burglary gone wrong but they have since said their “deaths were clearly a homicide”.

Dawn’s son, Callum Kerr, is best known for playing PC George Kiss in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks between 2020 and 2021.

Callum also starred in Netflix’s Virgin River – playing young Everett, Mel’s father, in the most recent series.

The 30-year-old, who is also a country singer based in Nashville with his fiance, walked his mother down the aisle when she married Andrew in September 2023.

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