American mother describes being trapped with children in France wildfires
In a harrowing tale of survival, American mother Rebecca Papin recounts her brush with devastation as she found herself and her two young children ensnared by wildfires in Southwest France. The blazes, which have already displaced over 220,000 people, erupted with alarming speed, leaving Papin’s family grappling for essential resources and a path to safety.
Meanwhile, a chilling discovery unfolded in another part of France, where a man stumbled upon what are believed to be the remains of five newborns in cardboard boxes within his own home. This grim find came to light following a home birth and subsequent hospitalization of his partner, according to French prosecutors.
The man, in a state of distress, learned of his partner’s pregnancy much later than expected, as she continually denied it. His unease prompted him to search their residence, shared with their two other children, ages eight and nine, unraveling this hidden horror.
A heated dispute between the couple over the contents of the boxes at their Orange town home intensified after the woman, 32 and unnamed, gave birth at home to a son. The confrontation eventually led her to complain of severe abdominal pain on Monday.
As she was rushed to the hospital, the husband remained, sifting through their belongings. It was then that he uncovered the tragic concealment of the deceased infants, shrouded in secrecy until that moment.
A man in France discovered five deceased babies inside cardboard boxes in his home after he and his wife had a fight. (Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)
The man, also 32, then notified authorities through the hospital where the woman was being treated for pain.
“The husband stayed behind when she was taken to the hospital, and looked inside the cardboard boxes they had been arguing over – that’s when he found the five dead babies,” an investigating source said, according to the US Sun. “All the [fetuses] were decomposing, and had been around for quite a while.”
Police searched the couple’s home, and prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into suspected murder on Monday.
Prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into suspected murder on Monday. (Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)
A forensic pathologist estimated, based on initial findings, that the bones and decomposing remains belonged to five newborns.
Authorities said the remains included bones believed to belong to four newborns and the decomposing body of a fifth. Autopsies and further laboratory testing were ordered.
The man told police he was unaware of his wife’s possible pregnancies.
The public prosecutor’s office urged child welfare services to assess the health of the couple’s eight and nine-year old children. It also issued a provisional placement order for the newborn baby, pending referral of the case to a children’s court judge.
The mother, who was still in the hospital on Tuesday, has not yet spoken to investigators.
The man told police he was unaware of his wife’s possible pregnancies. (Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)
A post-mortem examination has been ordered on the decomposing remains, and the bones will undergo anthropological analysis in a laboratory, according to prosecutors.
The couple had no history of problems and were described by a neighbor as “charming people,” according to French outlet AFP.
The neighbor, Florent Jean, told the outlet that the wife was a stay-at-home mother and the husband worked. Jean said the two were “normal people, really.”