They are beautiful children. Adorable, happy and very loving. These are the tragic siblings whose British father allegedly slit their throats in France.
This first photograph was released as the small village of Charantonney, south of Lyon, yesterday gathered in memory of Mathew Stevenson, 10, and little sister Carla, five.
They are believed to have been killed by dad Julian Stevenson, 47, in his flat during an access visit on Saturday, the first time he was allowed to take the children by himself in three years.
Mum Stephanie Morlet, who was divorced from Stevenson, hid her tears behind sunglasses as she joined hundreds of school children and well-wishers in her home village.
The youngsters, many of them friends of the murdered pair, wore white T-shirts and clutched white balloons in moving scenes. The balloons were reminiscent of the red balloons Mathew and Carla were seen holding in the last known footage of them, CCTV from a bakery on Tuesday.
All of the adults had pictures of the youngsters pinned to their clothing and held a single white rose for the traditional French 'White March' which took them through the village and up to the local church.
A local said: "Stephanie's family have lived here for about six years. She and the children have lived here for the last three. "Everyone is in deep shock. This is only a small village. They were well known. "No-one at the school can believe we won't see the children again."