A 35-year-old French tourist who disappeared in Nepal last week has been found dead, the French government said on Friday, adding that an investigation into her death was under way. "We have been informed by Nepalese authorities that the body of Ms Guerin, who went missing in Nepal on August 13, has been found," the foreign ministry said, confirming Melanie Guerin's death.
"An investigation is under way in Nepal," the statement said, adding that Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault was in touch with Guerin's family. Guerin, from the western city of Nantes, had been in Nepal for a month before being reported missing. Police began searching for her after a bag containing her passport, clothes and notebook was discovered near a highway last week in Syangja, 150 kilometres (95 miles) west of the capital Kathmandu. On Friday, the police announced that villagers had found a decomposed corpse.
Guerin's friends identified her by her hair, clothes and jewellery, the deputy police superintendent for Syangja, Bir Bahadur Pulami, told AFP. Her body was taken to the capital Kathmandu for an autopsy to determine the cause of death. "Our investigation is ongoing," Pulami said. Guerin had travelled to the Himalayan country to volunteer on organic farms.