Written by The Editors Thursday, 04 December 2008 10:58
Earlier last month (9 and 10 November, 2008), an unknown individual (or individuals) in a black 4x4 vehicle made two separate attempts to kidnap two girls, an eight-year-old and a nine-year-old, in the French Pays de Gex villages of Collonges-Fort-l’Ecluse and Thoiry. No link between the two incidents has been confirmed. While local police visited schools to warn children to be careful, there was little direct information for the parents. The information that was made available advised them not to allow their children to walk alone to school or even to go down to the bakery without being accompanied. Certain French communes have made the effort to keep parents updated; others have not. The decision to inform apparently lies with the mairie itself. As contributor Jack Turner noted in The Essential Edge , his own mairie (Thoiry) was reluctant to provide details and even expressed surprised at the request. His piece provoked considerable comment among readers, including several who professed outrage at a foreigner daring to criticize the local townhall, which seems curious when the lives of children are at stake.
