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AFP
French police have arrested a couple 31 years after their daughter was found dead, in a cold case revived through DNA evidence.
The mutilated body of the unidentified child was found by the side of a motorway in central France in 1987.
The parents were traced after the DNA of their son, tested in an unrelated case, was matched with that of the unknown girl, French media report.
They are to be questioned by a judge on Thursday and could face murder charges.
The parents have not been identified, but are believed to be in their 60s. Police have not commented officially on reports of the arrests, which are said to have taken place on Tuesday.
The body was found in a ditch along the A10 motorway near the city of Blois in August 1987, clothed and covered in a blanket.
The girl was believed to have been between three and five years old at the time of her death. She was described as being 0.95m (3ft) tall, having curly black hair and a "Mediterranean (maybe North African) type".
The authorities were unable to identify her and all physical evidence found with the body was preserved.
The girl bore marks of horrific, long-standing abuse, including human bite marks, broken bones and burns with an iron. Parts of her body were mutilated.
The investigating magistrate in Blois who was in charge of the case at the time said that it was "practically a case of cannibalism with flesh being removed".
Nicknamed the "little martyr of the A10", her body was never claimed and her disappearance never reported. She was buried in an anonymous grave.
At the time, the murder sparked one of France's biggest ever investigations, with the girl's photograph posted in public places and an alert sent to more than 30 countries.
Some 65,000 schools were visited at the start of the school year, and 6,000 doctors or childminders were contacted to try to find the victim's name.
The case baffled police for years. It was declared unsolved in 1997.
In 2008, her DNA was formally identified, and the related information registered in a national genetic prints database. However no identification was made at that stage.
The case was reopened in 2012 when a call for witnesses was released with a picture of the dead girl's face and the caption: "Who is she?"
The apparent breakthrough in the case happened when a man was arrested over a violent incident in 2016.
His DNA reportedly identified him as the victim's brother. Months of investigation then led police to the parents.
Other prominent cases revived in recent years thanks to DNA evidence include: