French cold case: Arrests over 1984 killing of 4-year-old

Paris: A cold case in France is heating up, with three new arrests this week over the 1984 killing of a 4 -year-old boy named Gregory.

The investigation has involved family rivalries, judicial bungling and 12,000 pieces of evidence, including about 2,000 anonymous letters, in the three decades since his corpse was pulled from a freezing river in eastern France.

The Burgundy gendarme service and Dijon appeals court said in a statement that three people were arrested on Wednesday.

Local newspaper L'Est Republicain reported that they were a great-uncle, great-aunt and aunt of Gregory's and that they are suspected of complicity in the killing.

A relative was initially jailed but released and then killed by Gregory's father. Then Gregory's mother was accused of killing her son, before being cleared.