Nine-year-old Maëlys de Araújo disappeared at the end of last August, during a wedding in the village of Pont de Beauvoisin, north of Grenoble, France.
She was last seen in the early hours of 27 August in the children’s area at the wedding venue.
Ex-soldier Nordahl Lelandais, who was also a guest at the wedding, has since confessed to “involuntarily” killing the young girl, admitting he slapped her.
Her remains were found near the village on 14 February, and have only this week been released from autopsy.
According to newspaper Correio da Manhã (CM), the procedure found her upper jaw was broken in two, something which Lelandais will now have to explain to the courts.
Lelandais was snared, according to reports, after traces of the girl’s DNA were detected in the boot of his Audi and also on the couch of his parents’ home, as well as damning CCTV footage, but only confessed to his involvement after her body was found.
He is currently admitted to Lyon Hospital’s psychiatry ward and will be recalled to court to face the results of the autopsy.
Lelandais is said to have explained that he had no intention of killing the child and that he panicked when he realised that Maëlys was not breathing after he had slapped her.
It was then, he claimed, that he decided to bury the child’s body.
He was admitted to hospital two days after confessing his actions, and placed on suicide watch.
Maëlys’ body has now been released to her parents, who can finally move on with the sombre task of preparing her funeral.
CM quotes the family lawyer having said after the autopsy was concluded that “knowing the concrete causes of [Maëlys’] death will allow the family to overcome [their pain]”.