---
category: "Belgium Scandals"
tags:
  - Person
  - Belgium
  - Dutroux
summary: "An Marchal was a 17-year-old Belgian girl abducted by Marc Dutroux and Michel Lelievre in August 1995 while camping at Ostend; she was murdered in captivity and her body discovered in September 1996."
created: 2026-05-14
updated: 2026-05-14
died: 1995
location: "Belgium"
---
An Marchal, aged 17, was abducted on the night of August 22-23, 1995, while camping at Ostend, Belgium, with her friend [[Eefje Lambrecks]], who was 19. The two were taken by [[Marc Dutroux]] and his accomplice [[Michel Lelievre]], a heroin addict whom Dutroux paid in drugs for his participation.[^1]

Dutroux held An Marchal and Eefje Lambrecks captive for approximately two weeks, subjecting them to abuse. [[Bernard Weinstein]], another Dutroux accomplice, witnessed the abuse of the two girls; Dutroux later buried Weinstein alive in November 1995 after deciding he was no longer trustworthy.[^2] According to Dutroux's own account, he murdered the two girls because they had seen his face and could identify him.[^1]

Their bodies were located on September 3, 1996, in Jumet (Hainaut province), buried beneath a shack adjacent to a property owned by Dutroux. Dutroux directed police to the location after his arrest following the rescue of [[Sabine Dardenne]] and [[Laetitia Delhez]] from his Marcinelle dungeon in August 1996.[^1]

At his 2004 trial, Dutroux was convicted of the murders of An Marchal, Eefje Lambrecks, [[Julie Lejeune]], and [[Melissa Russo]] and received a life sentence. Co-defendant [[Jean-Michel Nihoul]] was acquitted of the murders but convicted on other charges.[^1]

The investigation's handling of An Marchal's disappearance became central to the Belgian parliamentary inquiry into the Dutroux affair. [[Rene Michaux]], the gendarme heading surveillance operation Othello, searched Dutroux's house in December 1995 and failed to locate the hidden dungeon despite hearing what may have been children's voices - a failure later described as emblematic of systemic breakdown in the gendarmerie's response.[^3]

### Footnotes

[^1]: "Marc Dutroux," Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Dutroux
[^2]: Thomas, Mark. "Belgian Serial Killer and Child Molester Marc Dutroux Didn't Act Alone," *Oxygen,* November 2021. https://www.oxygen.com/crime-news/who-are-belgian-serial-killer-marc-dutrouxs-accomplices
[^3]: "Belgian policeman haunted by Dutroux error," *Irish Examiner,* 2004. https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-30140605.html