Blanche Monnier: A Case For Carefully Checking The Home Of The Missing First
A popular depiction of the plight of Blanche Monnier. She was only rescued in 1901.
Blanche Monnier was a 25 year old French socialite. In 1876 she disappeared from French society. Her mother and brother made out she had just gone off of her own accord. 25 years later she was found, confined to an attic bedroom. This is a very extreme example of why the cops sometimes seem to drag their feet in missing persons cases. Occasionally the answer to such situations is right at home.
I only just saw this story and it isn’t the only one I could use to illustrate the point. I like it though because of how cruel and enduring this case is.
Blanche Monnier made the mistake of wanting to marry an older, not so wealthy lawyer. Her family were not having that. In those days a good match that brought in some coin was seen as the responsibility of middle gentry. They locked her up until, as they saw it, she would forget about her intended husband.
Time went on as did the lives of the mother and brother. The lawyer died nine years later and Ms Monnier gradually lost her mind. This loving family left her not in some luxurious prison type situation. She was on a straw bed, seldom attended to and reeking of her own waste.
There were servants in the house and social lives that were lived, but no-one said anything to authorities. So over more than two decades you had a conspiracy of silence about the ongoing hell of this woman.
Eventually someone dropped a note to the law. When Ms Monnier was rescued she weighed a fraction of what she should have done. The mother and brother were arrested and the mother died about two weeks later. The brother was convicted and given a tiny sentence. Even that was not fully served as it was claimed Ms Monnier could have left at anytime, but she chose to stay in the filthy attic.
Was that a sign that the law makers and society agreed a bit with the family. How dare Ms Monnier forsake duty for love?
In recent times That Chapter ( You Tube) went through a case of a mother and daughter killing another of their family. They then staged a ‘sex attack homicide.’ They actually stripped the woman and left her posed as if she had been the victim of a rapist murderer. They left their ‘ loved one’ out in the open for all to see.
Sometimes when we try and weigh up the inactivity of the police or why they seem obsessed with the family maybe we should think on cases like that of Ms Monnier. Your family may be good, loving and caring. Not all are, are they?
The fuller version of this story can be found on the link below. They do a great job of it and deserve a look if you want to know more about this poor lady.
The other case regarding the family and the posed sex crime is that of Shelley Tyburski.
Thinking about it there is another strange French case that we wrote about where family were destroyed by one of their own. Please see our article on Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès.
Take Care
Tim
