Jean-Michel Longeois, aka the red-haired child on a bike, died at the age of 62
By chance and social networks, this kid from the mining basin has become a celebrity. Jean-Michel Longeois, former roofer, died at the age of 62, in Avion, this Friday, July 8. A look back at the story that has changed its last two years.
He sat in peaceful retirement, most often in his garden shed, with his birds. This Friday, July 8, around 11 a.m., Jean-Michel Longeois, better known as “the red child on a bike”, died at his home, in Avion, at the age of 62. The epilogue of a story that will have moved an entire region and even beyond.
Nearly two years ago, this former roofer and waterproofer, a discreet and unspoken man, found himself at the heart of a formidable adventure, made up of chance and social networks. That of a photo prize in Courcelles-les-Lens in 1966, on which appears the very young Jean-Michel Longeois, and redone identically, by the same photographer, John Bulmer, 54 years later. A unique meeting and an intense moment, captured by a France 3 Nord Pas-de-Calais team at the time.
This beautiful story dates back to October 17, 2019, after the publication of a simple photo posted by the “Heterotopia” account, which specializes in artistic photography. On Twitter, the caption is succinct: “John Bulmer (1967), A Street in Northern France“, but the photo catches the eye. A muddy street, neatly aligned houses and in the foreground, a child with red hair, slumped or almost asleep on a DIY bicycle.
Guillaume Lecointre and Pascal Demuynck, born in the Pas-de-Calais and passionate twittos, spot this photo by chance and begin a little investigation to find its author and the child in the image. Internet users smoke themselves at the game and participate in research. Very quickly, journalists (from France Bleu Nord, La Voix du Nord, France 3 Nord Pas-de-Calais, Europe 1) interfered in this quest. Some perform on the spot, but return empty-handed.
The searches grope. The hypothesis of the death of the red child is even mentioned for a time. But an exchange on Facebook messaging will tip the investigation. Pascal Demuynck decides to write via Facebook to all the Longeois he finds, before coming across a certain Maxim Longois. “I confirm to you that it must be my uncle”, replies the latter. Jean-Michel Longeois is alive and well!
The journalists will take over in this investigation, going so far as to organize the meeting between the English photographer John Bulmer and the retiree from Avion. Beyond France 3 Nord Pas-de-Calais and local and regional media, France 2 will produce a report in the show 1:15 p.m.. The original shot of the red-haired child will be auctioned for the sum of 800 euros.
LThe civil funeral of Jean-Michel Longeois will take place on Friday July 15 at the Vendin-le-Vieil crematorium at 9:30 a.m.