Taninges
The house where three children were found dead is pictured in Taninges, on November 13, 2024. Image Credit: AFP

GRENOBLE, France: A French mother suspected of stabbing her three children to death before fleeing, has been found dead in Switzerland, with authorities confirming her identity on Thursday.

Two boys, aged 2 and 11, and a 13-year-old girl were found dead in their home in the village of Taninges in the French Alps on the border with Switzerland on Tuesday.

French authorities launched a manhunt after the children's 45-year-old mother fled the village.

On Wednesday, a woman's body was discovered in a car on the other side of the border in Switzerland, and on Thursday authorities confirmed her identity.

"The Swiss authorities have confirmed the identity of the person found dead: it is indeed the mother of the three children", public prosecutor Boris Duffau said in a statement.

He added that he did not yet have an autopsy report.

The murders have shocked the village of around 3,500 inhabitants, with authorities setting up an emergency medical unit at the town hall.

The family's neighbour said she was "flabbergasted" by the "inconceivable" murders.

The family's chalet complete with a garden and swings is located on the outskirts of the village.

Mayor Gilles Peguet said the family, who lived in "a rather idyllic setting", were "devastated."

The mother was a primary school teacher in a village near Taninges.

In early November, a woman was detained and admitted to a psychiatric hospital after her two young children were found decapitated in France's overseas Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe.

The children, aged one and four, were found at the mother's home in the village of Sainte-Rose.