Two months after the disappearance of Karine Esquivillon, disturbing elements appear around the husband, who claims that his companion left of her own free will.
Two months without news, without the slightest sign of life or any trace. And yet, no warning sign according to his relatives. Karine Esquivillon has not been found since she was last seen in Maché, a small village in Vendée, on March 27. The investigation seems to skate and no real lead emerges for the investigators. However, several elements present in the file, in particular on the course of the facts, question, awakening certain suspicions around her (ex?) husband, Michel Pialle. He maintains a version which does not corroborate the statements of the sister of the disappeared.
At this stage, two theses exist: firstly, that of a runaway, voluntary, defended by Michel Pialle, who reported the disappearance of Karine Esquivillon; secondly, that of a kidnapping, an offense for which a judicial investigation was opened by the La Roche-sur-Yon prosecutor’s office. The missing woman’s spouse said on BFM TV that she “left voluntarily, that’s for sure.” But his account is troubled by the chronology of events.
According to information from Ouest-France, Karine Esquivillon, who has been missing since March 27, would have exchanged messages with Michel Pialle until March 31. What happened during those four days? Mystery. The man then did not report the disappearance until April 3, a week to the day after. A delay that questions. “I was convinced that she was going to come back,” he defended himself. Especially since, according to his words, the mother of the family would have warned of his departure.
According to him, the youngest daughter of the couple received a last message from Karine Esquivillon on March 31: “She told my daughter that she would not hear from her for a few days because she was going to a hot country.” Two days later, Michel Pialle reported the disappearance of his wife to the gendarmerie. A troubling timing for justice. The police then searched the family home: phones and computers were seized, the ashes from the fireplace were analyzed and the well was probed. The husband’s weapons were confiscated during the investigation: “I had weapons at home because I practiced shooting, but they were all declared, I do not feel accused, I opened my door without fear” explained.
If a week has therefore passed between the disappearance of Karine Esquivillon and the report to the gendarmes, a new aspect of the file has been revealed by BFM TV: the continuous news site claims that one of the adult children of the mother, from a first relationship, also contacted the military in turn, on April 8 or 9. According to the information obtained, he would have liked to have confirmation that Michel Pialle had indeed reported the disappearance of his mother. A check that questions the investigators, especially since the child would have been very worried.
Another disturbing element in the file: Karine Esquivillon’s laptop was found on April 9, 13 days after the forties was last seen. Discovered by chance, without a SIM card, in a ditch by the mayor of the town, the phone was “perfectly clean and dry”, with “a very good battery level”. Enough to suggest that the phone had only been there for a few hours. Unable to maintain a high battery level for several days, even without use.
At the start of the investigation, Michel Pialle detailed to the police his last day with Karine. He is the last to have seen her: “I was at the bottom of my land trying to find my cat who had run away, when I returned to the house, there was no trace of Karine. .” A few minutes later, he received this SMS, as he testified in Le Figaro: “I’m leaving, I can’t take it anymore to be two but no longer as a couple, they’re picking me up, I’ll pick up some stuff. ” The couple had left the Paris region 18 years ago to settle in Vendée.
Michel then found that his wife had disappeared with clothes, hygiene tools and the family record book. The husband is convinced of her return: “I admit that I did not notice her preparing to leave, but since she is a fearful person, I told myself that in three or four days she would be back .” The two lived under the same roof despite being separated for four years. Karine had not worked for several years to take care of their house and the two youngest children, including her deaf son. Her husband resells old objects from their home.
Eva-Louise, the eldest of Karine Esquivilion, is distraught: “I have no more news from her, not even a message for my birthday when I have a close relationship with her. A few weeks before, she spoke to come see me in the south with my father.” The laborious progress of the investigation does not help this family: “I am totally lost, I did not expect my mother to disappear, I do not understand.”
His daughter also does not believe in voluntary departure: “My mother took care of my little deaf brother a lot, she did homework with him, she would never have let him go. My mother did not even know how to put on loudspeaker , then I can assure you that she would not know how to remove a SIM card.” One of his other children shares his dismay: “We have no leads, it’s terrible. We don’t know if we should mourn or hope that she comes back.”
Karine Esquivillon’s sister also doubts a runaway. “I don’t see my sister leaving like that, in the middle of the afternoon, before the children come home from school (…) She liked being at home, with her children”, she declared, also on BFMTV. “If she wanted to go rest somewhere, she could have talked about it with her children, kissed them before leaving. We can say things and not run away,” she added, indicating also not to be at the aware of the supposed separation of the disappeared from her husband. “Apparently, Michel Pialle says that they are more or less separated, even living under the same roof,” she said, referring to a “very discreet” sister about her personal life.
Relatives of the missing also spoke in Le Figaro. For them, “Karine is a homebody with an underdeveloped social life, extremely fearful and suspicious”. So, the hypothesis of an online meeting, as mentioned by a neighbor, does not hold for her relatives: “She would never have followed a person, it’s impossible. In addition, she hated social networks or dating so I don’t see her chatting all night with one person.”
This disappearance upsets the town: presence of helicopters, numerous patrols of gendarmes. Mayor Frédéric Rager spoke to France Bleu: “We know this family since they have lived in the town for twenty years, but they are very discreet people who live far from the town. We hardly ever saw them. The gendarmerie is investigating. It is necessarily something that questions and worries. All I hope is that the outcome will be happy”.
According to the call for witnesses issued by the Loire-Atlantique gendarmerie, Karine Esquivillion is 1m67 tall, has black, mid-length and curly hair. She is of European type and has a long tattoo of seven fleur-de-lis on her loins. When she disappeared, she wore fancy gold earrings and rings on both hands. If you have information to help investigators, contact 0800 877 668 (freephone number – 24/7).
