France ÉMILE: Missing from Le Vernet, France - 8 July 2023 - Age 2 *Found Deceased*

Desperate hunt for French boy after he vanished while on holiday

Émile was playing in the garden of his grandparents home in the hamlet of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence on Saturday afternoon when he vanished.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Race against time to find missing Emile: Desperate hunt for two-year-old French boy two days after he vanished while on holiday with his grandparents in Alpine village​

French police have undertaken an extensive hunt for a two-year-old boy who went missing over the weekend while on holiday with his grandparents.

Émile was playing in the garden of his grandparents' home in the hamlet of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence on Saturday afternoon when he vanished.

The family was getting ready to leave the house they were staying in when Émile took advantage of the inattention, officials said. His grandparents came to put him in the car and found that he had gone.

The grandparents then alerted the authorities of Émile's disappearance at around 5.15pm [4.15pm BST], at which point family members, police, emergency service workers, and local villagers started the search for the boy.

Still unable to find him, the initial 5km search area for the Émile has today been extended with a helicopter, thermic camera drones, and sniffer dogs all brought in to help.

François Balique, the mayor of Le Vernet, told French television that the boy was a good walker for his age.

'It’s a small village with 20 or so houses … we see everything. He could have gone some distance and perhaps got lost or was hiding,' he said

The area around Le Vernet is surrounded by forest is popular with hikers.

Émile, who is originally from Bouches-du-Rhône near Marseille, was spotted by two people as he left his grandparents' home. However, they then said they 'lost sight of him'.

Police have so far carried out a search of all houses in the village, and have called upon anyone with any information to come forward.

Releasing a photo and description of a child to social media and broadcasters, officials said he had brown eyes, blond hair, and is 90cm (almost 3ft) tall.

They said he was wearing a yellow top, white shorts with a green pattern, and hiking shoes at the time of his disappearance.

Police have so far ruled out any suggestion that he was abducted.

'The grid is quite small given the motor skills of this young boy and the topography', David Corona, a negotiator and profiler, and former Gendarmerie told BFMTV.

Mr Corona said the child's age was 'both an advantage and a disadvantage'.

'He is two and a half years old so he won't be able to go very far on his own. The problem is that he has poor motor skills so if he falls in a place where he has trouble getting out, he is going to have trouble finding his way back.'

Laure Westphal, a psychologist and associate researcher at the Sciences Po university also told BFMTV that it was likely that Émile could have ventured further than initially expected.

'A child of this age is in search of autonomy even if he knows he is dependent on the adult. This is the age when he begins to say no', Ms Westphal said.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Hunt for missing boy, 2, from French hamlet focuses on motorway toll

Investigators are cross-referencing 50,000 CCTV images with phone records in the latest on the case

www.connexionfrance.com

Hunt for missing boy, 2, from French hamlet focuses on motorway toll​

Investigations into the disappearance of Emile, 2, from a mountain village in south-east France in July 2023 are now focusing on CCTV footage from a péage toll booth on the A51 motorway.

The prosecutor in Aix-en-Provence is analysing around 50,000 surveillance images from the scene, six months after the child’s disappearance from the hamlet of Le Haut-Vernet in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, on July 8.

#Prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon told BFMTV: “The case is still very much under investigation. We are using long-term analysis techniques.”

He said that the investigation was “not petering out” and that some of the new information coming to light is quite precise. This includes further investigation into the A51 toll.

The A51 is a motorway in southeast France that connects Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, with 128 km of toll road between Aix-en-Provence, and Saulce. The péage booth in question is around 50 km from Le Vernet.

The aim is to cross-reference images from vehicles passing through the péage with any profiles of interest in the investigation, including by using records of the 1,600 phones identified as being in a 50km radius of the hamlet on the day that Émile disappeared.

Not all police are convinced that studying the péage records will be useful, however. One anonymous police source told Le Figaro: “The péage is over 50 kilometres away...We have to be serious. How do you expect us to discover anything with that?”

But General François Daoust, former Director of the Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale (IRCGN), explained: “If we have a pertinent boundary marker at Le Vernet, and a vehicle ends up 50 kilometres down the road, at the toll booth, it would be worth looking at the driver and asking them what they were doing at the time.”

Other investigations are also ongoing, including analysis on 300 forensic traces collected in the area. The data collected will also be entered into a piece of software called Anacrim, which aims to cross-reference details to help investigators pick up on any potential new leads.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Hunt for missing boy, 2, from French hamlet focuses on motorway toll

Investigators are cross-referencing 50,000 CCTV images with phone records in the latest on the case

www.connexionfrance.com

Hunt for missing boy, 2, from French hamlet focuses on motorway toll​

Investigations into the disappearance of Emile, 2, from a mountain village in south-east France in July 2023 are now focusing on CCTV footage from a péage toll booth on the A51 motorway.

The prosecutor in Aix-en-Provence is analysing around 50,000 surveillance images from the scene, six months after the child’s disappearance from the hamlet of Le Haut-Vernet in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, on July 8.

#Prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon told BFMTV: “The case is still very much under investigation. We are using long-term analysis techniques.”

He said that the investigation was “not petering out” and that some of the new information coming to light is quite precise. This includes further investigation into the A51 toll.

The A51 is a motorway in southeast France that connects Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, with 128 km of toll road between Aix-en-Provence, and Saulce. The péage booth in question is around 50 km from Le Vernet.

The aim is to cross-reference images from vehicles passing through the péage with any profiles of interest in the investigation, including by using records of the 1,600 phones identified as being in a 50km radius of the hamlet on the day that Émile disappeared.

Not all police are convinced that studying the péage records will be useful, however. One anonymous police source told Le Figaro: “The péage is over 50 kilometres away...We have to be serious. How do you expect us to discover anything with that?”

But General François Daoust, former Director of the Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale (IRCGN), explained: “If we have a pertinent boundary marker at Le Vernet, and a vehicle ends up 50 kilometres down the road, at the toll booth, it would be worth looking at the driver and asking them what they were doing at the time.”

Other investigations are also ongoing, including analysis on 300 forensic traces collected in the area. The data collected will also be entered into a piece of software called Anacrim, which aims to cross-reference details to help investigators pick up on any potential new leads.

Well good luck with that and maybe who knows something will result but to me it sounds like they have zilch and are talking software and extensive research and then a big program called Anacrim that will cross reference and find things they can't and produce new leaks. In other words, it sounds like big talk t make it seem as if this is still hot and going somewhere when I doubt in reality they have anything or anywhere to turn.

I't stick close to the home front imo. I haven't seen enough that they can leave the home, the scene imo. As homicide investigators say we can't leave the house yet meaning in working ones way from the inner circle and site outwards. Doesn't mean they can't investigate all possibilities just that they are unable so far to rule out that whatever happened happened right there or at the hands of someone right there. Etc.

Of course it's France so we don't get near the info nor is news digging into people there, etc. at least with anything we've heard, or criminal histories, activities, family relationships, etc., etc.

I don't know of course but something is wrong with it all. The first flush of news one would think this was two grandparents on a holiday with their grandson and it wasn't anything even close to that as it turned out. The parents well that's another thing. I can't recall was it the two bio parents or mom with a bf? I believe the latter.

Anyhow, I don't think what they are focusing on is likely to result in anything much. I don't think this child that day was taken 50 miles away through some toll booth. But then who knows... I sure don't. I'd hope they are hard at work on other things just as or more likely though.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

MSN

www.msn.com

Bones found of missing two-year-old French boy​

Our Foreign Staff
31 March 2024 • 3:54pm

French investigators have found the “bones” of a toddler who went missing last summer in a tiny Alpine village and are working to determine how he died, a prosecutor said on Sunday.

The discovery is the first breakthrough in the case of two-and-a-half-year-old Emile, who vanished on July 8 last year while staying with his grandparents.

Two neighbours last saw him in the late afternoon walking alone on a street in Le Haut Vernet, at an altitude of 1,200 metres (4,000ft) in the French Alps.

“On Saturday, the police were informed of the discovery of bones near the hamlet of Le Vernet,” prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon said.

Genetic testing allowed them “to conclude on Sunday that they were the bones of the child Emile”, he added.

The prosecutor did not give a cause of death, but said that forensic investigators were continuing to analyse the bones. Police were carrying out additional searches in the area where the bones were found.

A source close to the case said a walker had spotted the remains.

Emile disappeared a day after he had arrived to stay with his maternal grandparents in their secondary home for the holidays.

The little boy, barely 35in tall, was wearing a yellow T-shirt, white shorts and hiking shoes when he went missing.

A massive search involving dozens of police officers and soldiers, sniffer dogs, a helicopter and drones failed to find him.

A prosecutor said after several days that it was unlikely such a young child would have survived in the summer heat.

After the initial search, a criminal investigation into a possible abduction was launched, although the possibilities of an accident or a fall have also remained open.

Police on Thursday returned to the village, cordoning off the area and summoning 17 people including family members, neighbours and witnesses to re-enact the last moments before he went missing to try to solve the mystery.

Drones flew overhead in the drizzle to capture footage of the re-enactment, but there was no news of any discovery after the exercise.

Emile’s mother and father, devout Catholics, were absent on the day of his disappearance. The boy was officially in the care of his grandfather, Philippe Vedovini. Mr Vedovini was questioned in a 1990s case into alleged violence and sexual aggression at a private Catholic school.

In late November, a day before Emile would have turned three, his parents published a call for answers in a Christian weekly. “Tell us where he is,” they wrote.

 

[GrandmaBear]

MSN

www.msn.com

Bones found of missing two-year-old French boy​

Our Foreign Staff
31 March 2024 • 3:54pm

French investigators have found the “bones” of a toddler who went missing last summer in a tiny Alpine village and are working to determine how he died, a prosecutor said on Sunday.

The discovery is the first breakthrough in the case of two-and-a-half-year-old Emile, who vanished on July 8 last year while staying with his grandparents.

Two neighbours last saw him in the late afternoon walking alone on a street in Le Haut Vernet, at an altitude of 1,200 metres (4,000ft) in the French Alps.

“On Saturday, the police were informed of the discovery of bones near the hamlet of Le Vernet,” prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon said.

Genetic testing allowed them “to conclude on Sunday that they were the bones of the child Emile”, he added.

The prosecutor did not give a cause of death, but said that forensic investigators were continuing to analyse the bones. Police were carrying out additional searches in the area where the bones were found.

A source close to the case said a walker had spotted the remains.

Emile disappeared a day after he had arrived to stay with his maternal grandparents in their secondary home for the holidays.

The little boy, barely 35in tall, was wearing a yellow T-shirt, white shorts and hiking shoes when he went missing.

A massive search involving dozens of police officers and soldiers, sniffer dogs, a helicopter and drones failed to find him.

A prosecutor said after several days that it was unlikely such a young child would have survived in the summer heat.

After the initial search, a criminal investigation into a possible abduction was launched, although the possibilities of an accident or a fall have also remained open.

Police on Thursday returned to the village, cordoning off the area and summoning 17 people including family members, neighbours and witnesses to re-enact the last moments before he went missing to try to solve the mystery.

Drones flew overhead in the drizzle to capture footage of the re-enactment, but there was no news of any discovery after the exercise.

Emile’s mother and father, devout Catholics, were absent on the day of his disappearance. The boy was officially in the care of his grandfather, Philippe Vedovini. Mr Vedovini was questioned in a 1990s case into alleged violence and sexual aggression at a private Catholic school.

In late November, a day before Emile would have turned three, his parents published a call for answers in a Christian weekly. “Tell us where he is,” they wrote.

Boy are there some tidbits in this I don't recall ever hearing or knowing.

First thing of import is he was found somewhere in this very small village and was never taken away or through some toll booth, etc. which was looked at, etc. Not surprised myself.

Now we hear parents were devout Catholics and not present. I swear at first we thought they weren't but later came to find out I thought it was mom and a bf were there. Not going to read back but that's what I recall.

So now it is a secondary home where It thought it was like rented first for the grandparents with grandson then later it came for a family event/reunion of sorts.

A re-enactment by 17 people, that's different and a bit interesting.

Finally he was in the "official" care of his grandfather who was questioned in the 90s about violence and sexual aggression at a private Catholic school. Say WHAT?

And what is "official" care? Does that mean parents put grandpa in charge and he was allowed to take him/have him and was the one supposed to be watching him? Or DOES it mean he was in grandpa's care and taken from parent's care by an official court or some such?

There are some differences here in the little news from another country we'd heard previously. As I recall.

I didn't think it happened far or he was taken, I recall that. I thought talk of that and toll booth was unlikely and it happened close to home or at home by someone there. Still do. I think foul play more than likely and always have. Could be wrong.

To be fair re grandpa, his sexual aggression and violence could have been when he was a teen or young. Emile was two. Grandpa could easily be only 40w or 50s and the 90s were 30 years ago. So while it sound sensational he could have been a teen, etc. Not that that doesn't show something because it shows a sexual and serious thing in a strict probably Catholic private school making one wonder the reason and history here. Who can help but think of the priest scandal that never reached the heights imo it should have. Was grandpa a victim and was grandpa a later perpetrator? Sorry but surely that crosses everyone's mind when reading this.

Again maybe way off base but there's two reasons children end up dead if foul play. One is a parent or bf of parent etc. losing it and battering the poor child to death, the other is due to a sexual predator and molestor.

Maybe it will come it is an accident but if it does, I likely won't buy it. Or undetermined. Soo many people were allegedly there and NO ONE watches someone so wee as a TWO YEAR old? I do that in the public realm without knowing the people. I see at work on occasion a child alone and can't see a parent nearby and while I am working and needing to multitask my eye is partly on that child until I see a parent with them. A few years ago my mom came for a visit and I and daughter and my mom were out shopping and I think FOUR times in that day I ended up watching out for someone else's child. I could tell the story but it would be long. My point IS even at a family gathering or at anything, it sure isn't our job but if someone else isn't watching or known not to watch, some family member is or is concerned--he was TWO. TWO YEARS old. That's an age that should NEVER be unsupervised. That alone leads me to foul play and adding in some other things, even more so.

However, to be fair, he was seen that day wasn't he as I seem to recall...?

This article while not being sensationalistic in the way some rags can get, has a couple of things that hint at things. Whether they relate or not who knows but grandpa's sexual aggression and violence and not only are the parents Catholic, the article makes a point of saying "devout" Catholics. So what are they getting at along with grandpa's issue being at a private Catholic school?

It could be intended and has no relevance or it could hint at something. It may be the news way of not being over the top with any major sensationalism but to get interest. Hard to say. It's France, not here.

What a sad outcome but I never thought him alive. What's the likelihood a TWO year old would be after going missing for more than a day or so? RIP Emile.

 

[Summer_Breeze]

French authorities give heartbreaking update on boy, two, who went missing

Émile Soleil's remains and clothes were discovered nearby where he went missing

www.tyla.com

Rhianna Benson
Published 16:42, 09 April 2024 BST
| Last updated 16:42, 09 April 2024 BST

French police have today given a heartbreaking update on the tragic death of French two-year-old Émile Soleil - who went missing last summer - after his clothes and bones were discovered half a mile from the toddler's family home.

While staying with his grandparents in an Alpine village, Émile was last seen by two neighbours on 8 July 2023, walking alone on a street in Le Vernet - about 1,200 metres up in the French Alps.

Following an large-scale search for the tot - which involved police, soldiers and volunteers scouring 1,200 acres using drones and helicopters while playing his mother’s voice from speakers - human remains were tragically found last month.

The bones - which are understood to include a skull and some teeth - were found by a hiker, who handed them in to the police, where genetic testing subsequently showed they belonged to the tot.

In the days that followed their initial discovery, a collection of clothes were also discovered 'almost 500ft' from where the toddler’s remains were found.

According to the lead prosecutor, wild animals may have been responsible for dispersing the toddler's remains, as well as the 'small fractures' and 'bite marks' found on his skull.

At this point, authorities are unable to determine whether the toddler's death was an accident or murder.

Prosecutor Jean-Luc Blanchon previously told press that 'murder or manslaughter' was not to be ruled out, despite a fall potentially having damaged Émile's skull in this way.

And this week, there was another twist to the mystery of his heartbreaking death

Another of Émile's bones has been found in another location, a close distance to where the majority of his remains and clothes were discovered.

Haut-Vernet's mayor told Le Figaro after hikers initially discovered the toddler's skull that authorities would be scouring the site with a 'toothcomb'.

And now, according to La Parisien, investigators have stumbled across another bone fragment during their final excavation, which could potentially determine the toddler's cause of death.

Speaking following the stomach-churning discovery, however, Mayor François Balique confessed he couldn't understand why the remains hadn't been found sooner.

"There are people who regularly use the path nearby," he told press. "I used it last week. The volunteer searchers have been there, I'm sure.

"I was there during the beatings [on the ground by those searching for Émile] and the gendarmes couldn't have missed him with the dogs. There was even a logging there in the Autumn. The wood cutters didn't see anything either. It's incomprehensible."

Mayor Balique even went on to state his innate belief that the child was murdered.

"I can't help but believe that an adult is involved in this matter. Émile would never have gone alone to where he was found," he added.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Well, there we sadly go. I agree with the ending remarks and I think this was foul play or disposal. I don't know about the ones who "saw him" on his own either and whether I buty that or who they were.

NO NORMAL PERSON sees a two year old walking alone away from any adult and does nothing. Not someone NORMAL. He was TWO. They COMBED these areas.

Sounds like a skull or head fracture or some such. I need to stay off that topic but that alone says a lot to me. That's no fall.

Also sounds as if his clothes and his body were separated and parts were found after already looking for all and so on. Don't need to go on about the details or think about them.

I think someone needed this to end and had to put him where it would fit him wandering off. I'm not sure I even believe he was alive the day they said he went missing. This one has been very off to me from the start. Of course it is France and we have no accounts from people talking whether people at the home and "party" or "reunion" or whatever the heck it was not from neighbors, or anyone.

What would YOU DO if you saw a TODDLER off somewhere on his OWN? I'd not leave the child until I saw someone else at minimum and then ask them to call for help if I had no way to. I woudln't necessarily take him home or anywhere as I don't want to be accused of kidnapping but I'd stay with him and alert someone or get him to turn back with me. Most of us ALL have phones now, I'd call 911 immediately.

Yet someone saw this boiy apparently and did nothing. Again, not sure I buy it. They could be the perps or family that is lying or who knows. Or it's false and they wanted to insert selves stupidly.

So he was actually found awhile back...

 

[Guess Who]

French authorities give heartbreaking update on boy, two, who went missing

Émile Soleil's remains and clothes were discovered nearby where he went missing

www.tyla.com

Rhianna Benson
Published 16:42, 09 April 2024 BST
| Last updated 16:42, 09 April 2024 BST

French police have today given a heartbreaking update on the tragic death of French two-year-old Émile Soleil - who went missing last summer - after his clothes and bones were discovered half a mile from the toddler's family home.

While staying with his grandparents in an Alpine village, Émile was last seen by two neighbours on 8 July 2023, walking alone on a street in Le Vernet - about 1,200 metres up in the French Alps.

Following an large-scale search for the tot - which involved police, soldiers and volunteers scouring 1,200 acres using drones and helicopters while playing his mother’s voice from speakers - human remains were tragically found last month.

The bones - which are understood to include a skull and some teeth - were found by a hiker, who handed them in to the police, where genetic testing subsequently showed they belonged to the tot.

In the days that followed their initial discovery, a collection of clothes were also discovered 'almost 500ft' from where the toddler’s remains were found.

According to the lead prosecutor, wild animals may have been responsible for dispersing the toddler's remains, as well as the 'small fractures' and 'bite marks' found on his skull.

At this point, authorities are unable to determine whether the toddler's death was an accident or murder.

Prosecutor Jean-Luc Blanchon previously told press that 'murder or manslaughter' was not to be ruled out, despite a fall potentially having damaged Émile's skull in this way.

And this week, there was another twist to the mystery of his heartbreaking death

Another of Émile's bones has been found in another location, a close distance to where the majority of his remains and clothes were discovered.

Haut-Vernet's mayor told Le Figaro after hikers initially discovered the toddler's skull that authorities would be scouring the site with a 'toothcomb'.

And now, according to La Parisien, investigators have stumbled across another bone fragment during their final excavation, which could potentially determine the toddler's cause of death.

Speaking following the stomach-churning discovery, however, Mayor François Balique confessed he couldn't understand why the remains hadn't been found sooner.

"There are people who regularly use the path nearby," he told press. "I used it last week. The volunteer searchers have been there, I'm sure.

"I was there during the beatings [on the ground by those searching for Émile] and the gendarmes couldn't have missed him with the dogs. There was even a logging there in the Autumn. The wood cutters didn't see anything either. It's incomprehensible."

Mayor Balique even went on to state his innate belief that the child was murdered.

"I can't help but believe that an adult is involved in this matter. Émile would never have gone alone to where he was found," he added.

The difference in vegetation density between July and now could very easily made the difference of him being spotted at the time and/or animal activity bringing the remains out in site.