DOUBT DRIVES MATHIEU'S PARENTS SICK; IS THEIR SON REALLY DEAD?

By Frederick Noronha

PANJIM, April 18: Mathieu's parents are sick with worry back in
France. It's the uncertainty that is killing. Their son
disappeared while holidaying in Goa nineteen months ago, and till
date they are unsure whether he's alive or dead.

Yves Leguellec, Mathieu's uncle, has been scouring the Internet,
and is willing to approach just about anyone who can help him.

Mathieu was in Goa in September 1998 for professional reasons. A
sound engineer, he was accompanying a film shooting group
consisting of, besides him, two friends and the girlfriend of one
of the two other men.

The first part of the journey was fine and he even wrote to his
uncle telling him his programme in advance. The couple (the friend
and his girlfriend) decided to go to Arambol, the 'alternate'
hide-out of Goan tourism, where according to Mathieu, there was a
music festival to take place.

In Arambol, the trio were lodged at Prakash's Pias guest house
from September 20-25, 1998, i.e. for the whole period they were
supposed to be here. Mathieu learnt that the festival wouldn't
take place until a month later and since that would be too late,
his friend and he decided to take the plane together on October 6.

At Arambol, Mathieu befriended a young Spanish national who was a
medical student and two Turkish girls, aged around eighteen, who
were also on holiday and live closeby.

The couple joined the first part of the group and the rendez-vous
for the return trip was fixed as the Mumbai airport. Mathieu
remained alone at Arambol.

No news reached France since September 18, the day on which he
called home. On September 19, he called his girlfriend at the
French city of Nice. Nothing in particular to say, except that
things were fine, he was happy, the journey was over, and that he
liked the country.

So his parents did not have any particular cause to be worried.

But then came a big surprise.

On the day when he was to arrive, October 6, 1998, his stepmother
called. The friend informed that they hadn't travelled back
together. The airline company refused to divulge any information
and directed his parents to the Consulate where they received the
news that the police had informed the authorities that Mathieu
had drowned.

Mathieu's parents met the then Consul, Madame Chollou and learnt
about the report. They travelled to Arambol. Mathieu's
possessions were intact except for his diary-cum-address book,
which his parents say, he would never part with.

According to the police report, Mathieu was last seen at around
dusk on September 29, 1998, when he walked to the rocky spot. As
night descended, the Turkish girls didn't see him return and
searched the area along with locals.

A missing report was lodged by the girls ten days later. Body was
never found. Mathieu's parents told this correspondent that, in
view of these facts, they can't accept the version of drowning story.

The young Spanish student left on the eve of Mathieu's
disappearance. Interrogated by the Consulate in Bombay, he
attested that Mathieu was not in his right state of mind.

Mathieu's parents say it has become impossible to contact this
individual now. When Mathieu's parents met the two Turkish girls,
they were very "evasive", according to his family.

Mathieu's father toured Goa on a scooter, visited hospitals,
prisons, and even doctors dealing with foreigners. But all this
yielded no results. People did however speak about a foreigner
who used to get drugged to the extent of not being able to
identify himself and others.

Madame Chollou, the French envoy, is now in Fiji and Mathieu's
family don't know her successor. They have however contacted
Goa's Tourist Department, the French police, and Paris' Embassy.
Amnesty International, they say, can't interfere because of
political and judicial hassles in India.

Desperate to find any straw of a clue they can cling on to, the
distraught parents of Mathieu met this scribe in cyberspace. They
offered to send across a psychological profile of the young man
"so that you can deduce the places he may have wanted to frequent".

"His family is convinced that he is alive and they want to confirm
this. They wouldn't want to coerce him into returning if he
doesn't want to. But remaining in doubt is killing them," said
his uncle Yves Leguellec.

Leguellec questioned the drowning story in absence of body.

In a not surprising anti-climax to the case, the police report
simply says that Mathieu Fileron went missing since September 29,
1998, at 7 p.m. on Arambol beach.

One "foreigner lady" whose name, the policy say, is not known,
brought this to the attention of the police. Even this lady's
present location is not known.

Strangely, a lookout notice was sent to all police stations in
Goa only on October 21, 1998, nearly three weeks after the man
went missing.

BRITON MYSTERY: In another development, the British media has
reported the "mystery drowning death of a Briton in Goa". A
distraught father told an inquest in the UK he believed
medication and chemicals used in the Gulf War changed the
personality of his son.

Richard Bracegirdle's life-long ambition was to join the army but
serving with the Royal Signals in the Gulf War changed him
completely. On returning back to Northwich, he began to suffer
depression, became psychotic and made attempts on his own life,
the British press reported.

Just before Christmas 1998, in remission from his illness, he
took a lone holiday to Goa. But days before he was due to return
home he was found drowned at Baga Beach, an inquest was told.

This 27 year old's death remains a mystery, Cheshire coroner
Nicholas Rheinberg was quoted as having admitted. He said despite
"meticulous investigations" there was no clue whether Richard
accidentally drowned or suffered a relapse.

Mr Rheinberg said Dr Alan Jones, an expert in Gulf War syndrome,
believed that Richard's symptoms were typical. Recording an open
verdict, Mr Rheinberg said: "I cannot come to any solid
conclusion about this."

But Richard's father Alan and mother Jane, of Weaverham near
Northwich, said they were convinced that drugs used in the Gulf
made their son ill.