A manhunt is underway for the killer of a British woman found dead outside her home in France ‘covered in stab wounds’.
The 65-year-old victim was discovered by a friend, lying near her vehicle at a property she ran in the village of Trémolat, east of Bordeaux, on Tuesday evening.
An investigating source said that the mother-of-four was found ‘covered in stab wounds’, with desperate efforts now underway to identify and find the attacker.
‘Five deep injuries pointed to ferocious violence and a desire to kill,’ the source said.
According to the Bergerac prosecutor’s office, the victim suffered multiple wounds to her chest, groin, arm, and leg. The murder weapon has not yet been found.
State prosecutor Sylvie Martins Guedes said in a statement that she was discovered with deep wounds caused ‘by a blunt object’.
Residents of the small rural commune were in ‘total shock’ from the incident.
The victim was ‘a delightful, energetic person who got on with everybody,’ one resident said.
‘We saw emergency vehicles in the village, and then lots of police cars, and then the area around her house was cordoned off,’ they added on condition of anonymity.
‘Nobody can understand how this could have happened in a peaceful place like this. We are all keeping our doors locked. It is deeply worrying.’
A friend found the 65-year-old woman lying near her vehicle with five deep wounds caused by a blunt object at her home in the village of Tremolat in the Dordogne on Tuesday evening.
When medics arrived following a phone call from an unidentified man, they found the victim ‘in cardio-respiratory arrest’.
Despite attempts to revive her, she died at the scene.
Sylvie Martins-Guedes, the Bergerac prosecutor, confirmed that a criminal enquiry had been opened, and that local gendarmes were investigating.
She said that ‘a search has been launched to identify and arrest the perpetrator,’ and that possible motives included robbery.
Initial findings from the investigation revealed the woman was with a friend ‘with whom she had been in a relationship for several weeks.’
On the evening of the tragedy, they spent the evening together in Trémolat with friends before returning to the victim’s home.
She had reportedly arrived to her home around ten minutes before him, France3 reported.
Upon his arrival, he discovered the victim ‘collapsed and unconscious’ near his vehicle. He then immediately called for help before administering first aid himself.
The victim’s friend, who was temporarily held in police custody, was released on Wednesday evening.
The victim had been part of a football team of women aged over 50 who trained between Calès and Trémolat (pictured)
Authorities have opened a murder investigation following the death
The victim was the owner and manager of two guest houses in Trémolat, and both were frequently used by guests from the UK.
She was also identified as a member of the Reines du Foot team, a group of women over 50 who participated in the Grandma’s World Cup in South Africa in early April, had lived in the Dordogne department for several years.
‘In front of the house in Trémolat, we can still see a large trace of blood which testifies to the violence of the blows inflicted on this woman,’ Francebleu reported.
The victim was one of 18 football players who left for South Africa less than a month ago to participate in the Grandma’s World Cup, after training between Calès and Trémolat.
‘Everyone is in shock, it’s horrible,’ her distraught teammates told the French news site.
Known to play in a number 12 jersey, the British national was a substitute left midfielder during the competition in South Africa.
Speaking to French news outlet Sud Ouest, a neighbour that lives across the street from the victim said: ‘I closed the shutters around 9pm, everything was calm.
‘But at 11pm, I saw a lot of flashing lights with the emergency services.
File photo. Emergency services were called after a friend found the victim with deep wounds
‘The police then rang my doorbell around midnight to see if I had noticed anything suspicious, but I didn’t see or hear anything.’
A sign was placed on the front of the local cafe to inform residents that the Wednesday concert evening and Thursday quiz have now been cancelled ‘due to death’.
An investigation has been opened against an unknown person for the count of voluntary homicide.
‘All avenues of investigation are being explored,’ the prosecutor said.
MailOnline contacted the Foreign Office for comment.
