Over a year since Celine Henri was last seen, a joint search last week by the Nepal Army and police recovered remains believed to be those of the 32-year-old French volunteer. A skull, bones from limbs, a rib, and women's undergarments and shoes were found at a 40-minute walk from Andhri Kholsa, below the Jamacho hill. Andhri Kholsa is about 700m from Nagarjun's Mudkhu gate, where Henri signed in at 12.05 PM on 3 September, 2005.

The official story is that a local from Sona Gaun discovered the remains while collecting mushrooms. However, security sources tell us that Ganga Bahadur Karki, a hunter, recently stumbled upon the remains and informed the French Embassy.

On 11 February this year the body of German national Sabine Gruneklee was found in the same jungle, four months after she disappeared. Last year, a search team recovered both Gruneklee and Henri\'s though elsewhere in the Nagarjun forest. (See 'Celine and Sabine', #276.)

The remains have been sent to teaching Hospital for DNA and other forensic tests, and DSP Pradhyumna Karki of the Hanuman Dhoka Crime Investigation Branch is careful to say that it is as yet only speculation that the body is the Frenchwoman's. A forensic expert from the French police force arrives here today, on deputation from the French Foreign Ministry.

The joint search team, composed of 100-150 personnel of the Nepal Army forces from Bhadrakali and Narayanhiti's Barda Bahadur Battalion, and the Nepal Police-Crime Investigation branch, has been combing the forest sporadically over recent months. "We tried everything to reach inaccessible areas, even climbing and rappelling, but we obviously never got to the right place," a member of the team told us.

Even if the remains are positively identified as Henri\'s, questions remain concerning the investigation and search. There are conflicting reports on how key pieces of evidence, such as the location of remains and items of clothing, were found, and when. When the French Embassy team discovered fresh blood traces earlier this year, the team put out, without any tests, that Henri had been 'eaten by a leopard'.

The search at different points involved French ambassador Michel Jolivet, who himself hiked through the forest, and came upon fresh traces of a recent violent death, which lead to the recovery of Gruneklee's body; siblings of Henri and Gruneklee, who went from village to village showing pictures of their sisters; trekking guide Suraj Dahal, whose number was in Henri's diary; Henri's brother, who petitioned King Gyanendra to involve the army in the search; and Dominique Valter, a friend of the Henri family who has been liaising with the authorities
here.