A 14-year-old boy has been arrested in eastern France on suspicion of stabbing a 13-year-old girl to death, police said Thursday.
The girl's body was found early on Thursday morning with a knife in her neck near the town of Macon, north of Lyon, police told local media.
Her body bore many other signs of violence, police said.
Regional schools chief Pierre N'Gahane said the girl, who went missing late Wednesday, was a pupil at a middle school in Lugny, a town near her home village of Clesse.
"What's happened is totally incomprehensible," he told broadcaster BFMTV.
There had been "no reports of bullying" at the girl's school, he added, describing her as a good student.
N'Gahane was unable to confirm reports that the girl and the suspect had recently had a romantic break-up, but said it was "possible".
Police officers had been deployed to search for the girl around the wine-growing village of 800 inhabitants.
Macon prosecutor Eric Jallet said he will give a press conference around 6:00 pm local time (1600 GMT) after visiting the scene on Thursday morning.
