Les Disparus des Argonnes, Digi Mart USA News (Marne, France): France 2 is broadcasting Les Disparus des Argonnes, a new miniseries starring Alix Poisson, in prime time on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. The series, inspired by the Mourmelon disappearances, centers on a serial killer who was never tried.
Two new episodes will air tonight, with co-star Vincent Deniard appearing alongside Poisson. The story follows Gilles Veyrades, a young conscript doing his military service, who vanishes without a trace while he was due to return home on leave.
His mother, Jocelyne, refuses to believe he deserted or ran away. Facing the indifference of the authorities, she conducts her own inquiry and discovers that other conscripts from the region have also disappeared under unexplained circumstances.
As the Veyrades family struggles with the ordeal, Jocelyne gradually leads the families’ fight to uncover the truth.
The miniseries is inspired by the real case of the victims of Pierre Chanal. Between 1980 and 1987, eight young men vanished near the Mourmelon military camp in the Marne, several of them conscripts performing national service.
While families grew alarmed, authorities favored the explanation that the men had left voluntarily or deserted.
The mothers of the victims refused to give up and fought to learn the truth. A turning point came in 1988, when former warrant officer Pierre Chanal was arrested during a routine traffic check.
Gendarmes found a young Hungarian hitchhiker held prisoner in his van. Convicted in 1990, Chanal, nicknamed the “Crazy Rambo of Mourmelon,” was quickly suspected of being behind the Mourmelon disappearances.
Investigators gathered material evidence and DNA elements that reinforced suspicions against the former soldier. However, the judicial process stalled and exposed numerous failures.
For several years, the families battled slow justice and a lack of cooperation from a military institution more concerned with its image.
The errors and silences that marked the case made it a symbol of judicial failure. In October 2003, as his trial for three murders had just opened, Pierre Chanal took his own life.
His death prevented a trial for the Mourmelon disappearances, so the serial killer was never tried. In 2005, the French state was ultimately found guilty of gross fault in its handling of the case.
The miniseries also draws on the novel by Julie Peyr. The fiction won the award for best dramatic series at the 2026 La Rochelle TV Fiction Festival.
In total, it consists of four episodes. The conclusion will air next week, on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, in prime time on France 2.
