The remains of French toddler Emile, who disappeared from his grandparents’ garden in July 2023, have been found near the hamlet of Haut-Vernet.
The human remains were found on Saturday and “genetic identification analyses” led to the conclusion that they belong to the 2.5-year-old child. The public prosecutor in Aix-en-Provence said this in a statement issued on Sunday. According to BFMTV, a skull was discovered by a hiker yesterday.
In its press release, the public prosecutor announced that “the IRCGN (Institut de recherche criminelle de la gendarmerie nationale) continues its forensic analysis of the bones,” while the Gendarmerie Nationale “will deploy resources to conduct additional investigations in the geographical area where they are found”.
Much is not clear
Emile was last seen on July 8 around 5:15 p.m., by two neighbors with conflicting stories, when he had just arrived for the summer holidays at his grandparents’ holiday home in Haut-Vernet, a hamlet of 25 inhabitants located at an altitude of 1,200 meters on the slopes of the Trois-Evêchés massif (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). It is still not clear what happened that day and how Emile could disappear.
The investigation was initially opened as a case of suspicious disappearance in Digne-les-Bains, but was quickly transferred to two investigating judges in Aix-en-Provence and subsequently converted into a criminal charge of “kidnapping” and “captivity”.
