According to a prosecutor on Sunday, French investigators have discovered the bones of a toddler who vanished in an Alpine village last year in a case that horrified the country. They are currently investigating how he died.
Emile Soleil, who was visiting his grandparents on July 8 of last year, was two and a half years old when he disappeared. The last time two neighbors saw him, he was by himself on a street in Le Vernet, 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) above sea level in the French Alps.
Prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon said, “On Saturday, the police were notified of the discovery of bones near the hamlet of Le Vernet.” He continued by saying that DNA evidence indicated these were the boy’s remains.
“This heartbreaking news was feared,” the child’s parents stated in a statement made public by attorney Jerome Triomphe.
It read, “Now knowing on this Resurrection Sunday that Emile watches over them in the light and tenderness of God,” the parents, who are both devoted Catholics, felt peace. “But the pain and sorrow remain” .
It wrote, “The time has come for mourning, reflection, and prayer,” and it requested that the family be given solitude.
The prosecutor stated that forensic examiners were still examining the bones, which a walker had discovered, but she did not provide the cause of death.
The prosecutor also mentioned that fresh searches were being conducted by police in the vicinity of the body’s discovery. On Sunday, a roadblock was erected on the sole route leading to Le Vernet.
The day after Emile arrived in the village to spend the holidays with his maternal grandparents, he vanished.
According to detectives at the time, the young child was dressed in a yellow T-shirt, white shorts, and tiny hiking shoes.
No sign of life was discovered despite a major search that included police, troops, sniffer dogs, a helicopter, and drones.
Family’s Sorrow
A criminal inquiry into a potential kidnapping has been launched by the police. Additionally, the possibility of an incident or a fall has not disappeared.
In order to recreate the final moments before he vanished, police cordoned off the area and called 17 people, including family members, neighbors, and witnesses, to the village on Thursday.
There was no significant development to report as drones filming the reenactment buzzed overhead in the mist.
On the day of Emile’s disappearance, neither his father nor mother was present.
The boy’s grandfather, who is currently in his fifties, has been the subject of some media attention.
Inquiries concerning suspected violence and sexual assault at a private school led to the grandfather’s questioning in the 1990s.
However, a person with knowledge of the matter claimed that any potential involvement had only been compared to other theories.
On Sunday, the grandfather’s attorney refrained from commenting “due to the sorrow of the family.”
One day shy of Emile’s third birthday in November, his parents placed an appeal in a Christian weekly.
They asked, “Tell us where he is,” adding that they also had a younger daughter.
Leave a Reply