PARIS — A star pupil from Senegal who went missing without having a word in Paris earlier this month, setting off an outpouring of concern, is explained to have turned up, but the mystery surrounding her disappearance is, if something, deeper than ever.
Senegalese officials in France explained the pupil, Diary Sow, had been uncovered “safe and sound.” And a Senegalese government minister launched a letter of apology he described as hers in which Ms. Sow explained she had disappeared of her personal accord.
But the pupil has nevertheless to be noticed in public. And French prosecutors — who had opened an inquiry but had been reported to be leaning towards an explanation of foul perform — declined to comment.
As for Ms. Sow’s household in Senegal, they explained they merely do not know what to imagine. They have nevertheless to hear from the youthful lady, in accordance to her uncle, Ibrahima Sow.
The disappearance of Ms. Sow, twenty, garnered broad awareness in Senegal, in which the president when described her as “the pride of a total nation,” and in France, in which she was learning at 1 of the country’s most prestigious colleges.
But on Monday, the Senegalese Consulate in Paris explained in a statement that she was unharmed and in the firm of Serigne Mbaye Thiam, a Senegalese minister whom officials described as her “parrain,” or guardian.
“Senegalese diplomatic and consular authorities in France thank the French government for its productive support, as nicely as the whole Senegalese local community in France, in individual its college students, for their mobilization,” the statement explained.
Final week, Mr. Thiam posted excerpts from the letter ascribed to Ms. Sow on Twitter, and explained he had been communicating with her for a number of days. But the letter raised pretty much as lots of inquiries as it answered.
“Those who seek out a rational explanation for what I did will be disappointed, as there is none,” Ms. Sow wrote, in accordance to Mr. Thiam, even though the letter also alluded to what she named a “deep quest.”
As a pupil in Senegal, Ms. Sow came very first in higher college competitions. She met the president. She won a scholarship to research at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, an elite college in Paris that opens the doors to France’s very best company, science and engineering colleges. She published a novel and had a following on social media.
So when Ms. Sow was reported missing, it came as a blow each to people who knew her and to people who had admired her from a distance, in her West African nation and in France. When she did not display up to lessons just after the winter break, her college raised the alarm with Senegalese authorities in Paris, who informed the police.
In the letter that purports to be from Ms. Sow, she says she departed mainly because she desired to consider “a very little break to get my spirits back.” She explained she was “terribly, profoundly sorry” for the ache she had brought about and implied that she would return to Paris and to college.
“Contrary to what folks appear to imagine, I am not providing up the existence I had just before,” she wrote.
The letter could not be independently verified, but in a post on Twitter final week, the Senegalese consulate explained that its investigations backed up aspect of Mr. Thiam’s account: that Ms. Sow had left voluntarily and that she was healthful and secure. Senegal’s embassy in Paris said the same.
Aurelien Breeden reported from Paris, and Ruth Maclean from Dakar, Senegal. Mady Camara contributed reporting from Mbour, Senegal, and Aida Alami from Dakar.