Foot found on beautiful beach belongs to Europe’s ‘most wanted criminal’

A foot discovered on a beach in France is now believed to belong to “Europe’s most wanted fugitive,” according to recent reports.

Forensic tests carried out since the discovery of the foot on a beach near La Rochelle have confirmed it is that of Cyrille Picard, who is suspected of killing his 10-year-old daughter Célia in May 2022 in the region of Haute-Savoie.

The human foot was found in February this year.

This new development in the case of the French fugitive was revealed on Tuesday by the magazine ‘Nouveau Détective,’ which described Picard as “Europe’s most wanted,” a label given by Europol.

The analysis that followed the find—made by a passerby who then took the foot to the local gendarmerie—has confirmed it matches Picard, who would now be 54 years old.

Since May 2022, Picard has been the subject of a European arrest warrant, suspected of murdering his daughter in Veigy-Foncenex.

As reported by Le Parisien, which supports Nouveau Détective’s information, Picard was in the midst of a separation when the tragic incident occurred.

On May 12, the couple’s older son made the gruesome discovery of Célia’s partially burned body.

The autopsy determined that she had been beaten and then strangled.

There were also indications that the attacker had tried to set the house on fire before escaping.

Suspicion quickly focused on Picard, who was last seen on that same day, driving away from his home in a white Citroën van.

The last known trace of Cyrille Picard was on May 15 2022, in Meschers-sur-Gironde, located in Charente-Maritime, close to La Rochelle.

Investigators have speculated that he might have escaped by sea. Europol’s profile of Picard describes him as “dangerous,” stating that: “He knows how to handle weapons and is capable of living with very few resources.”