Search between Saint Prex and Morges will continue Friday
Police step up investigation into father’s presence in the area 30 January, seek new witnesses to black A6 Audi
Matthias Schepp was driving an Audi A6 Avant, similar to this one, the day the girls disappeared
Police are asking for witnesses who may have seen an Audi like this 30 January, with Matthias Schepp, near Morges
Geneva / Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A massive new effort poured into the hunt for missing six-year-olds, Alessia and Livia Schepp, failed to turn up anything Thursday, despite high-tech equipment used to comb the search area and 13 specially trained dogs and their handlers from three countries, working with a team of 140 persons.
Vaud police organized the search, using 11 dogs that are trained particularly to hunt for bodies, after a man provided new, reliable information in early April that he had seen a man dragging a suitcase in the Boiron beach area about 16:00 Sunday 30 January. The information fit some of the “technical” aspects of the case already in police hands.
The beach, which straddles the boundary between Tolochenaz and Saint Prex, to the west of Morges, has long been a popular gay and nudist beach, but since police began to enforce a CHF500 fine ordinance for nudism the beach has become quieter, and in winter there are few people.
Boiron beach, roped off, with police guard: a lonely stretch of Lake Geneva shore (click on image to view larger)
The area was blocked off on land Thursday, as was the water around the beach, to allow the search to move ahead. Police used a a multibeam swath bathymetry system to sound the river and lake area where the river enters Lake Geneva, as well as an underwater remote-operated vehicle to check the area around the mouth of the river. Dog teams went over the beach area, carrying out a “ minutieuse” search after two St Hubert dogs from the Lausanne municipal police checked and failed to find any traces of Matthias Schepp, the father, in the area.
The Vaud police criminal investigation unit Thursday began new inquiries in the nearby area, looking for possible witnesses – at local dumps, professional fishermen, animal protection and fish protection authorities, rifle practice stands, etc. – who are often in the area or in areas close to the one being searched.
They are asking that anyone who might have information of interest contact the criminal investigation team at +41 21 644 8888. In particular, they would like to talk to anyone who might have seen the father of the twins and his car, a black Audi A6 Avant, in or near Morges, Sunday 30 January.
The police press release notes that:
“The team involved in roping off the area and in the search itself comprised: 55 men from the police in canton Vaud (gendarmes, inspectors and Lake Brigade specialists), 70 colleagues from the Vaud Civil Protection unit, 2 Canton Geneva Police Lake Brigade specialists, 11 dog handlers with 13 dogs from: the Austrian Police Dog unit with 6 men and 6 dogs (Diensthundewesen der Bundespolizei Oesterreich), the national dog tracking investigation unit from the French Gendarmerie in Gramat (2 men, 3 dogs), the Bern police (1 man with his dog) and Canton Zurich Police (1 man with his dog), as well as the Lausanne municipal police (1 man and 2 dogs), in addition to 2 police officers from the Morges commune police and 2 firefighters from the SPSL with a boat.”
Police boat guards the water near spot where Boiron empties into Lake Geneva, with Morges and west Lausanne in the background; St Sulpice, where the girls lived, is off to the right,further along the lake
Max the white stork and partner, 2009 (photo ©H Buergermeister)
Tuefingen/Salem, Germany (GenevaLunch) – Max the white stork has a new family, with little heads popping above the top of the nest where the 10-year-old mother has been sitting on her eggs. For the time being the number of new little ones is unknown, but between 2002 and 2009 Max has given birth to 20 offspring. She was born in May 1999 near Avenches, in Switzerland, but she and her regular partner meet up and build a nest each spring on the north side of Lake Constance.
