MISSING SWISS TWINS Alessia and Livia Schepp were last seen on a ferry to Corsica with their father, according to a French prosecutor.

The six-year-olds were spotted by three witnesses on the ferry with their father Matthias Schepp, Jacques Dallest said.

Their father was found dead in Italy last week. It is believed he took his own life.

Before now, there has been no confirmation that the girls had boarded the boat with their father, the BBC reports. Dallest  told reporters in Marseille: “We know since yesterday [Tuesday] from passengers on the boat between Marseille and Propriano that he was with the little girls.”

He added that a woman in a neighbouring cabin reported hearing “children crying in the evening and that shortly afterwards, she saw the little girls and was able to formally identify one”.

Another witness said that she had seen two children getting off the ferry in Propriano with an adult, but could not definitely say that it was the missing twins.

Meanwhile, Euronews reports that the hope of finding the girls alive has faded after their mother received a sum of money, which was sent by Schepp in the post before he died. Previously, investigators had uncovered evidence that the girls’ father had withdrawn the money – and were hopeful that he had given it to someone so they would take care of his daughters after he died.

Alessia and Livia were taken by their father from their home in the village of St Sulpice, where both Schepp and his estranged wife have homes, on 30 January.