3 people shot dead in british registered car, near Lake Annecy in France

[RedBeret]

Unbelievable. such a beautiful and peaceful area.

here, so sad

4 dead. mis typed.

Saw this on the news. Awful

Read it could have been a professional hit but if so it seemed very messy...too many cartridges. I really hope the background and perpetrators are caught quickly but most of all the little survivor makes it. They would have someone belonging to her there by now wouldn't they? Dear god almighty, how will she ever get over this?

Amazingly they have found another little girl aged around 4 years old, ALIVE who had been hidden beneath the bodies of the 2 women in the back. She had been there for nearly 12 hours since the shooting and only just been discovered. Poor little things.

I am at a loss, to wonder how/why such a thing could happen. Beautiftul, ppular with tourists. I have been there many times, and always felt so safe. I wonder if it is a robbery which went wrong? They were in a BMW 4 x 4 so possibly something along that nature. Anyway, I am just so shocked.

That's terrible. Poor family, poor people and those children - what a horrific thing to live through. :(

From what I've read now, some form of robbery must have taken place or they'd know for sure who they were and whether or not they were locals/tourists/British, as the reports seem confused on that point and are going off the reg of the car.

Hope they catch the bastards.

yes that would make sense regards just going on the car reg. If the documents had been stolen. When one reads about young children like this , one cannot help but imagine that this could be a mner's family.
And Annercy is a popular destination for people on here. Always lots of convos about it being a lovely place to camp and recommended.

we were there 2 weeks ago, swam and had a picnic by that campsite. Cannot imagine this kind of thing happening there. Unbelievable. Poor, poor children.

Two children appear to have survived. An 8yo found outside the car who is very badly injured and the little girl hiding inside. Those poor kids. It's an appalling & baffling crime. By any standards, killing an entire family plus a passing cyclist simply to cover up a robbery/car-jacking would be an excessive over-reaction.

Looking like mum, dad, and grandmother died in the car according to sky news.

This is just horrible. DP is cycling in Grenoble - his group got there yesterday. They are all very shaken about it obviously.

I can't possibly understand how the little girl wasn't found earlier, even if she was still and silent. Surely it would be procedure to open the car to check the victims for vital signs, even if it was obvious at a glance that they hadn't survived.

Poor little thing. I hope they have found someone really special to look after her in a strange country without her family.

kungFu yes, i agree about themnot checking the car throughly. I know it is a scene of crime and need to be careful due to evidence, yet it does seem odd. And possibly there would have been childrens car seats in the car indicating that there could be kids around?

I work in the criminal justice system, so I understand about preserving the crime scene/chains of continuity regarding evidence etc But I cannot possibly imagine that taking priority over a thorough check of the vehicle if it happened here. Although I would expect a forensic team to be there pretty fast, certainly if it happened in a big UK police force area, like London.

I guess it was probably difficult to get a team to such a rural area quickly - they wouldn't exactly be geared up for something like that happening. And I suppose it is possible that they simply reached in to the car to check for signs of life.

How sad, the children in their own in a strange country having witnessed this. Beyond words

Such a beautiful place. My sister lives half an hour away and there have been cases locals being shot as they return home by gunmen waiting by their door to gain access as they open the door.

People who work at the UN have been targeted too.

My sister was broken into, they think it was people looking for the keys to an expensive car that was on her drive, not even hers! Thankfully only the dog was at home and was unharmed

They still have absolutely no idea why it happened.

That poor little girl - it's like something from a horror story. I hope they find some of her family soon so that someone she knows can comfort her. Just awful.

I just keep thinking how scared that little girl must have been to keep so still and silent for all that time...

We were there last Thursday. This has given me the chills.

Such a picturesque place for something so macabre.

When the french police say they haven't ruled out a 'family drama' what would they mean?

I haven't been able to get that little girl out of my mind all morning - what must she have felt like hiding under those bodies for so long. My heart goes out to her and her poorly sister.

I hope they can be reunited with family soon.

Cognito - I expect they mean that a family member may have been responsible. Maybe a fourth adult who has since vanished? Or one of the adults shot the others and then killed themselves? I think that last is unlikely though....

I don't think it sounds like a killing from a family member. They say it was an autmoatic pistol and all shots were fired from outside the vehicle.

It may have been a crazed killer unconnected to the family. I hope so.

I've just heard a report about this on the radio. The whole thing is so upsetting and I just can't understand how the police missed the girl in the car. The radio report said that it was only when the police went to the family's campsite that they were told that there were two daughters and presumably did a better search.

The only explanation I can think of is that the poor family came across something criminal and were in absolutely the wrong place at the wrong time.

I can't get the four year out of my mind either. She must have been utterly terrified. To keep so still for so long. Poor poor mite.

Daily Mail said there have been some fake police checkpoints in the area.

Praying the 8 year old makes it.

The police not spotting the 4 year old for eight hours is shocking.