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.

 

[GrandmaBear]

And the car with blood is downright odd. Whose car, how as it even noticed and where? At the family's vacation rental? Does it belong to a villager? Or found and noted as it was the vehicle of someone they are looking at? Again they apparently had cause to take it in although it is downplayed as unknown if human blood, new or old or even his.. I'm not buying the downplay.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

French police fear missing Emile may have been hit by a harvester

The toddler disappeared without trace on July 8 from Haut-Vernet , an Alpine hamlet south of Grenoble, where he was staying with his grandparents.

www.dailymail.co.uk

French police fear missing Emile may have been hit by a combine harvester while walking through long grass as hunt for two-year-old continues​

French police are fearing that a missing two-year-old boy may have been hit by a combine harvester while walking through long grass.

Prosecutor Remy Avon said on Monday that the investigation is being launched to 'investigate causes of the worrying disappearance.'

Some scenarios, such as a bird of prey or wolf attack, have already been ruled out. A total of 20 houses were also searched, but nothing was found there.

Now the police are investigating the scenario in which Émile would have come into contact with an agricultural machine.

A farmer from the village of Le Vernet, where the search is taking place, told BFMTV that it would not be an illogical scenario.

He explained: 'Sometimes we find deer. The little one may have ended up in the tall grass and been hit by a farm machine. That would be terrible.'

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Who is Emile Soleil? Everything we know on search for missing French 2-year-old

Émile disappeared on 8 July from Haut-Vernet, a village south of Grenoble in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, where he was staying with his grandparents.

news.yahoo.com

Who is Emile Soleil? Everything we know on search for missing French 2-year-old​

Police are continuing to investigate the disappearance of French toddler Émile Soleil, despite calling off the search for him last week.


Authorities said they are now entering a phase of the investigation where they will analyse their findings - including looking at phone records at the time of the tot's disappearance.

Remy Avon, public prosecutor of Digne-les-Baines, reportedly said: "We are now entering a second phase, that of the long time when the investigators will study the hearings, telephone records or vehicle inspections."


Little has emerged about Émile's parents.

One report suggested that a bizarre message was left by his mother on a Facebook page dedicated to collecting "prayers for Émile", but it had not been verified as being written by her.

Former Family and Children’s Minister Ségolène Royal also claimed Émile’s father had "a very worrying profile"

She tweeted: "The mother questioned only on Tuesday? And the father, with a very worrying profile?

"So, we did not look at the theory of a problem or family revenge? A kidnapping? Why is the kidnapping alert still not triggered? How sad."


Various theories have been put forward around the toddler's disappearance.

The obvious suggestions include the possibility that the two-year-old has been murdered or kidnapped, though police are yet to find any evidence to support those.

Another theory is that a driver hit the two-year-old and panicked then hid his body.

It has also been suggested, according to reports, that Émile may have been hit by a combine harvester while walking through long grass.

Public prosecutor Remy Avon has said of various theories: "Nothing has been ruled out.'

 

[GrandmaBear]

Combine suggested by who? And I've asked too repeatedly where are his parents? Why was the intiial talk of the grandparents packing up and as if they should be watching him and were responsible for him with no mention of the parents who we don't even know if were present at what we came to find out was a family reunion basically and not just two grandparents with a grandson on vacation.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

What is the latest on boy, 2, missing in the French Alps?

Emile disappeared from a hamlet near Digne-les-Bains around two weeks ago

www.connexionfrance.com

What is the latest on boy, 2, missing in the French Alps?​

Emile, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy from a large family, was staying with his grandparents for two weeks in the hamlet of Le Haut Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). He disappeared on Saturday, July 8 as his family packed the car for an outing.

It is thought that Emile wandered off by himself as he was reportedly seen in the hamlet before his disappearance. The village is so small that it was not unusual to see children out and about, so a few people who reportedly saw him did not think to raise the alarm.

However, despite village-wide searches with dogs and infrared helicopters, Emile has not been located. A kidnapping was believed to be unlikely, and no nationwide kidnapping alert has been issued.

What are the latest changes?​

The prosecutor of nearby Digne-les-Bains this week announced it had opened a new judicial inquiry into the case. Two judges from Aix-en-Provence are now investigating, with inquiries centred on data and evidence collected from the scene and search area.

Searches were stopped four days after the disappearance, and helicopters are no longer flying over.

The hamlet of Le Haut Vernet, which is above the village of Vernet, is closed to any non-residents until July 31 at midnight, in a bid to control the comings and goings of outsiders.

One resident told FranceInfo: “Now, there are ‘them’, and there is ‘us’: we are split in two.” Others said they no longer want to talk to journalists and want the family to be left in peace.

The mayor, François Balique, said: “I have encouraged everyone to go back to normal life…we are coming out the other side as well as could be expected, and trying to forget, while also waiting for news.”

Residents’ contrasting views​

One resident, Jeanne, who told FranceInfo she was a long-time friend of Emile’s family, described the boy as “dynamic” and “very cute”. She said: “He speaks very well. He is always with people who are older, so he wants to do the same as they do…[but] I’m sorry, I can’t talk about it anymore, it upsets me too much.”

She added the atmosphere in the village is starting to “go back to normal” and “calm down”.

However, another resident, Charlotte, who said she knew the family “a little bit”, has called for less calm and less silence, and called the atmosphere “oppressive” and “tense”.

She said: “Little secrets lead to bigger ones. Maybe some people know something but they’re not saying anything?”

 

[GrandmaBear]

What is the latest on boy, 2, missing in the French Alps?

Emile disappeared from a hamlet near Digne-les-Bains around two weeks ago

www.connexionfrance.com

What is the latest on boy, 2, missing in the French Alps?​

Emile, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy from a large family, was staying with his grandparents for two weeks in the hamlet of Le Haut Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). He disappeared on Saturday, July 8 as his family packed the car for an outing.

It is thought that Emile wandered off by himself as he was reportedly seen in the hamlet before his disappearance. The village is so small that it was not unusual to see children out and about, so a few people who reportedly saw him did not think to raise the alarm.

However, despite village-wide searches with dogs and infrared helicopters, Emile has not been located. A kidnapping was believed to be unlikely, and no nationwide kidnapping alert has been issued.

What are the latest changes?​

The prosecutor of nearby Digne-les-Bains this week announced it had opened a new judicial inquiry into the case. Two judges from Aix-en-Provence are now investigating, with inquiries centred on data and evidence collected from the scene and search area.

Searches were stopped four days after the disappearance, and helicopters are no longer flying over.

The hamlet of Le Haut Vernet, which is above the village of Vernet, is closed to any non-residents until July 31 at midnight, in a bid to control the comings and goings of outsiders.

One resident told FranceInfo: “Now, there are ‘them’, and there is ‘us’: we are split in two.” Others said they no longer want to talk to journalists and want the family to be left in peace.

The mayor, François Balique, said: “I have encouraged everyone to go back to normal life…we are coming out the other side as well as could be expected, and trying to forget, while also waiting for news.”

Residents’ contrasting views​

One resident, Jeanne, who told FranceInfo she was a long-time friend of Emile’s family, described the boy as “dynamic” and “very cute”. She said: “He speaks very well. He is always with people who are older, so he wants to do the same as they do…[but] I’m sorry, I can’t talk about it anymore, it upsets me too much.”

She added the atmosphere in the village is starting to “go back to normal” and “calm down”.

However, another resident, Charlotte, who said she knew the family “a little bit”, has called for less calm and less silence, and called the atmosphere “oppressive” and “tense”.

She said: “Little secrets lead to bigger ones. Maybe some people know something but they’re not saying anything?”

What the heck is the truth here? Is it just news. Now it is back to as if he was alone with his grandparents or that's the inference given.

And now they aren't packing to go home, they are packing for an "outing".

What happened to a family gathering and him being last with other children in the family etc. Hard to know which news to believe.

They can shut a village down to comings, etc. That is sure different than here.

One mention ever of the parents and not another since in one article if I recall.

And I really have a problem with this news saying it's a small village and not unusual for children to be out and "about" so no village thought anything of it. REALLY? With a TWO year old? Get real.

And after saying two week vacation with grandparents in the same paragraph they say getting ready for an outing with his family. Do they mean the grandparents o her his parents or the whole family if this was a family gathering.

Then it is thought he wandered off by himself but we had another account he was with other children in the fam and does that mean he wandered off alone or was with other kids an wandered away from them?

The one resident has known his family for a long time so what does that mean and how? I thought this was a vacation, did they vacation there every year and that's how she knows them or what? And known his whole family? His parents? Or his grandparents?

And then the other neighbor with little secrets lead to big ones.

Another "there are them" and "there are us". Who doe she mean? Law enforcement?? Or this child's family and the rest of the village are them and us...

I mean honestly WTH?

And one talks of reporters. Just wondering if reporters are thee or around, etc., then why haven't his parents availed themselves of media for an appeal for help to find him etc.?

 

[Mel70]

French police fear missing Emile may have been hit by a harvester

The toddler disappeared without trace on July 8 from Haut-Vernet , an Alpine hamlet south of Grenoble, where he was staying with his grandparents.

www.dailymail.co.uk

French police fear missing Emile may have been hit by a combine harvester while walking through long grass as hunt for two-year-old continues​

French police are fearing that a missing two-year-old boy may have been hit by a combine harvester while walking through long grass.

Prosecutor Remy Avon said on Monday that the investigation is being launched to 'investigate causes of the worrying disappearance.'

Some scenarios, such as a bird of prey or wolf attack, have already been ruled out. A total of 20 houses were also searched, but nothing was found there.

Now the police are investigating the scenario in which Émile would have come into contact with an agricultural machine.

A farmer from the village of Le Vernet, where the search is taking place, told BFMTV that it would not be an illogical scenario.

He explained: 'Sometimes we find deer. The little one may have ended up in the tall grass and been hit by a farm machine. That would be terrible.'


View attachment 19862

I can't see how you wouldn't know you hit something with a combine and don't notice. I say no. You would notice. You can see down into what you are harvesting first of all. Secondly, You would notice a difference in what is going through. Third, There would be evidence of blood Etc. They find deer. Yes. Usually young deer, Bedded down. Young rabbits. There again. There is evidence.

 

[Mel70]

What the heck is the truth here? Is it just news. Now it is back to as if he was alone with his grandparents or that's the inference given.

And now they aren't packing to go home, they are packing for an "outing".

What happened to a family gathering and him being last with other children in the family etc. Hard to know which news to believe.

They can shut a village down to comings, etc. That is sure different than here.

One mention ever of the parents and not another since in one article if I recall.

And I really have a problem with this news saying it's a small village and not unusual for children to be out and "about" so no village thought anything of it. REALLY? With a TWO year old? Get real.

And after saying two week vacation with grandparents in the same paragraph they say getting ready for an outing with his family. Do they mean the grandparents o her his parents or the whole family if this was a family gathering.

Then it is thought he wandered off by himself but we had another account he was with other children in the fam and does that mean he wandered off alone or was with other kids an wandered away from them?

The one resident has known his family for a long time so what does that mean and how? I thought this was a vacation, did they vacation there every year and that's how she knows them or what? And known his whole family? His parents? Or his grandparents?

And then the other neighbor with little secrets lead to big ones.

Another "there are them" and "there are us". Who doe she mean? Law enforcement?? Or this child's family and the rest of the village are them and us...

I mean honestly WTH?

And one talks of reporters. Just wondering if reporters are thee or around, etc., then why haven't his parents availed themselves of media for an appeal for help to find him etc.?

I had a problem with people possibly seeing him out and about and thinking nothing of it too. Like you said. A 2 year old! Really?!

 

[GrandmaBear]

I can't see how you wouldn't know you hit something with a combine and don't notice. I say no. You would notice. You can see down into what you are harvesting first of all. Secondly, You would notice a difference in what is going through. Third, There would be evidence of blood Etc. They find deer. Yes. Usually young deer, Bedded down. Young rabbits. There again. There is evidence.

I agree. I give the combine theory little thought. They haven't even said anyone was know to be combining that day either. If they knew someone was, and where and that's what happened, they'd have found evidence as you say. This is something else, not a combine accident imo.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I had a problem with people possibly seeing him out and about and thinking nothing of it too. Like you said. A 2 year old! Really?!

Yeah, I don't care if you live in the safest (clearly not) most quaint village there ever was, you don't do that nowadays and you sure wouldn't have done it back when either. Even in my childhood when parents let their kids go out and play and even wander all day or ride bikes wherever, that wasn't done with TWO YEAR OLDS. Let's here more about this vacation and "party". There clearly are reporters and yet neither the parents nor grandparents or even an aunt or anyone has come out and begged for help to find him, return him, etc.

Don't know much about French ways or investigations or laws but I wouldn't think any LE agency anywhere would preclude family from appealing for help.

 

[Mel70]

And they said "Tall grass". That's harvested for hay. Unless you have a very large crop. It isn't that common. My grandpa didn't use one. The hay was just for the cows and other uses. There was plenty. And plenty of reserves in the hay barn. I've been around combines. And I just can't see it happening. And with hay, You have to let it dry before you bale it. So it looks like a yard mowed with no bag pretty much.

 

[GrandmaBear]

I agree that he was not hit by any combine. I'll bet on it. There is s.omething really wrong here. There isn't even a clear picture of whatT was going on that day, who all was present, etc. and quite honestly, I don't see much reason to even believe something necessarily happened THAT day or at THAT time.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Cadaver dogs brought in for search for French boy missing for two weeks

Seventeen days ago, little Émile vanished from his grandparents' garden in the sleepy village of Le Haut-Vernet in southern France, but a several-day search over 1,000 hectares was fruitless with absolutely no sign of the two-year-old boy

www.mirror.co.uk

Cadaver dogs brought in for search for French boy, 2, missing for more than two weeks​

Six "cadaver dogs" have been sent to track through French woodlands two weeks after a two-year-old child vanished without a trace.

It's seventeen days since little Émile disappeared from the sleepy village of Haut-Vernet, with the investigation coming to a halt after cops failed to find any trace of the boy during a several-day search.

Six dogs and a number of specialist drones are now involved in the hunt - which will focus on the same three-mile radius around the boy's home. It's the same search area that was swept on foot by France's National Gendarmerie earlier this month.

The purpose of the dog mission is to search areas that haven't yet been probed, so cops can "close the door definitively" on this side of the search, an investigating source told BFMTV.

Meanwhile, the drones will be able to get an aerial view of areas that were previously inaccessible, with a lot more precision than helicopters. They will be able to spot reliefs in the ground, where a body could lay, because they're able to get much closer than the chopper. These drones are also equipped with technology that can help them identify heat emissions that come from corpses.

Dogs have been used already in the search, but this week the canines are specifically trained to track down the scent of human corpses and remains. This is the first time this type of dog has been used in the search for little Émile.

 

[GrandmaBear]

And still no appeal from the parents?

They are using CADAVER dogs to look for their child to rule out he wandered off on his own and pretty much assuming if he did, and is in the woods, etc. he is dead.

This is a very silent family.

 

[Mel70]

Cadaver dogs brought in for search for French boy missing for two weeks

Seventeen days ago, little Émile vanished from his grandparents' garden in the sleepy village of Le Haut-Vernet in southern France, but a several-day search over 1,000 hectares was fruitless with absolutely no sign of the two-year-old boy

www.mirror.co.uk

Cadaver dogs brought in for search for French boy, 2, missing for more than two weeks​

Six "cadaver dogs" have been sent to track through French woodlands two weeks after a two-year-old child vanished without a trace.

It's seventeen days since little Émile disappeared from the sleepy village of Haut-Vernet, with the investigation coming to a halt after cops failed to find any trace of the boy during a several-day search.

Six dogs and a number of specialist drones are now involved in the hunt - which will focus on the same three-mile radius around the boy's home. It's the same search area that was swept on foot by France's National Gendarmerie earlier this month.

The purpose of the dog mission is to search areas that haven't yet been probed, so cops can "close the door definitively" on this side of the search, an investigating source told BFMTV.

Meanwhile, the drones will be able to get an aerial view of areas that were previously inaccessible, with a lot more precision than helicopters. They will be able to spot reliefs in the ground, where a body could lay, because they're able to get much closer than the chopper. These drones are also equipped with technology that can help them identify heat emissions that come from corpses.

Dogs have been used already in the search, but this week the canines are specifically trained to track down the scent of human corpses and remains. This is the first time this type of dog has been used in the search for little Émile.

It's the FIRST time using cadaver dogs in 17 days?!

 

[Mel70]

And still no appeal from the parents?

They are using CADAVER dogs to look for their child to rule out he wandered off on his own and pretty much assuming if he did, and is in the woods, etc. he is dead.

This is a very silent family.

Unfortunately. I don’t doubt that he is. The silence is kind of bothersome. People react differently. But, I would think a news coverage plea at least from them asking the public to look out for him. Along with details of his disappearance. So what does the silence mean?. I'd hate to think it is because they already know. That maybe it was an accident and they are afraid to say?. And not take the chance it won't be viewed that way.?. When anyone, Especially a child goes missing, The person closest's. Here the parent's actions etc. Are going to be heavily scrutinized. They have to know that.

 

[GrandmaBear]

It's the FIRST time using cadaver dogs in 17 days?!

yeah i had the same thought. any dogs at all that i recall.

and i'll repeat WHERE are the parents and for that matter, the entire family?

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Divers search lake for body in case compared to BBC's The Missing

Divers from the local police force inspected a lake next to a public swimming pool in the tiny Hamlet for a second time, going back to make sure they have investigated it properly

www.dailymail.co.uk

Divers searching lake for the body of little Emile, two, find no new clues: Hopes dashed in French village after concrete slabs dug up near family home also revealed nothing​

Frogmen searching a lake in rural France as part of a major investigation into the disappearance of a two-year-old boy that has been compared to the hit BBC show The Missing have revealed that their search was fruitless.

Emile Soleil, whose parents live in Marseilles, disappeared without trace on July 8 from Haut-Vernet, an Alpine hamlet south of Grenoble where he was staying with his grandparents.

A major search operation was launched involving 800 gendarmes, firefighters, volunteers, helicopters, thermic camera drones, and sniffer dogs to try to find the toddler.

Divers from the local police force inspected a lake next to a public swimming pool in the tiny hamlet for a second time, going back to make sure they have investigated it properly.

 

[GrandmaBear]

Divers search lake for body in case compared to BBC's The Missing

Divers from the local police force inspected a lake next to a public swimming pool in the tiny Hamlet for a second time, going back to make sure they have investigated it properly

www.dailymail.co.uk

Divers searching lake for the body of little Emile, two, find no new clues: Hopes dashed in French village after concrete slabs dug up near family home also revealed nothing​

Frogmen searching a lake in rural France as part of a major investigation into the disappearance of a two-year-old boy that has been compared to the hit BBC show The Missing have revealed that their search was fruitless.

Emile Soleil, whose parents live in Marseilles, disappeared without trace on July 8 from Haut-Vernet, an Alpine hamlet south of Grenoble where he was staying with his grandparents.

A major search operation was launched involving 800 gendarmes, firefighters, volunteers, helicopters, thermic camera drones, and sniffer dogs to try to find the toddler.

Divers from the local police force inspected a lake next to a public swimming pool in the tiny hamlet for a second time, going back to make sure they have investigated it properly.

They need to quit saying he was staying with his grandparents, same impression as given at first like a threesome, grandma and grandpa having a holiday with their grandson when it came out later it was a WHOLE crew of people and all getting ready to leave etc. or whatever. And nary a word hardly about his parents.

There is sooo little info really known here. I'm not even convinced when this child was truly last seen other than by family.

It is France so whether we get any more info is debatable. Is it being discussed I wonder in French forums and speculated on? By some that know them, etc. Digging going on for details?

One can go both ways on how they feel about that but sometimes perps do talk and engage and things come out that can be used. Look at Letecia Stauch, her own worst enemy. Countless others.

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Properties in six departments searched over missing boy, 2, in France

The searches are the latest development in a case that has mystified investigators since July

www.connexionfrance.com

Properties in six departments searched over missing boy, 2, in France​

Thirty-six searches across six departments in France have been conducted in connection with Émile, aged 2, who went missing from Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), in July.

The searches took place in six departments in the region, and concerned several homes in le Haut-Vernet. They have now finished without any major findings or breakthroughs being announced.

The boy’s grandparents’ home - where he was staying at the time of his disappearance - was not among the properties searched, according to FranceInfo although other media report that it was included.

It comes after a property, home to a 16-year-old boy originally from Vernet, was searched in October. The teenager, who has reportedly never been to school and belongs to a local farming family, has also been questioned several times. His mother’s car was also inspected by investigators.

The boy has never been arrested or officially considered a suspect.


Émile disappeared on July 8 from the hamlet of Haut-Vernet while his extended family were packing the car for a trip. He was seen by at least three witnesses walking away from the property, but this was not considered a concern at the time as children frequently walk and play freely in the hamlet.