They found Emil’s bones. And now? Everything we know about the disappearance of a two-year-old boy

July 8, 2023, 5:15 p.m. The alarm was raised about Emile’s disappearance and the mystery began in the village of Le Vernet, in the Alpes-Haute-Provence region of France.

Emil, who is two-and-a-half years old, was wearing a yellow T-shirt and green patterned shorts when he was last seen playing at his grandparents’ house.

The boy lived with his parents in La Bouilladis, in the Bouches-du-Rhône region, 30 minutes from Marseille and 170 kilometers from Le Vernet, where he regularly spent holidays with his family.

Searches were carried out, and for several days more than 800 people throughout the region were looking for Emil. No evidence was found until Saturday, March 30th.

The boy’s skull and teeth were discovered near Vernet by a man walking in the area who alerted authorities.

First searches
After notification of the disappearance, searches began in the village to find the child. In the early days of the operation, more than 800 elements were involved, including army, fire, police, kinesthetic teams, drones, 20 sniffer dog teams and 200 volunteers, with more than 500 calls made. Two witnesses told authorities they saw the child on the sloping street.

To make the search easier and for the child to respond, E.’s mother.Milya recorded a voice message transmitted from the plane. TO Authorities released a statement with a photo of the child and a brief description of Emil’s appearance: brown eyes, blond hair, height 90 centimeters.

In the village of about 30 houses with 125 residents and 12 vehicles, 25 people were searched and questioned. The initial searches lasted about four days and found traces of blood in one vehicle and traces of paint in another, leading authorities to believe they may be connected to the case. However, tests concluded that the blood belonged to an animal.

According to Le FigaroThe councilor banned outsiders from entering the city for 15 days.

Several theories arose at the time of the disappearance, such as that the child was hit to death and the body was placed in another location. Some people also believe that Emil may have been attacked by wolves or even kidnapped.

Suspicions about the family
The police have not ruled out the possibility Emil’s parents’ connections to French far-right groups, which have become known for attacks on immigrants in recent years. Marie’s mother was even interrogated. Information has appeared on social networks warning about a case dating back to 2018: the parents of a boy may have been involved in the beating of two young men in Marseille.

Marie shared prayers for the child on social networks: “The devil regularly took her to the mountain, but the angels brought her back.”

Opening a request
French justice initially decided not to open a judicial investigation into Emile’s disappearance, leaving the case to the prosecutor’s office without referring it to any judge. However, Digne-les-Bains prosecutor François Balic ultimately abandoned this decision.

Chronology of key moments
French authorities considered the possibility that Emile was hiding in a bale of straw, as farmers were collecting hay on farmland at the time of his disappearance. So they used a high-definition metal detector to analyze all the straw bales in the village where Emil was last seen. Nothing was found.

Us last days of July, dogs used in the investigation picked up the scent of a corpse in the village where Emil disappeared. New searches began, but they again proved fruitless.

IN SeptemberAccording to the French newspaper, a group of divers carried out searches in the lagoon near the home of Emil’s grandparents. Le Figaro.

Three months later Emil was last seen in October. French authorities carried out new searches using specialized dogs and drones. According to the newspaper, one of the houses that was searched belongs to Le Parisiento a resident with a suspicious profile from a neighboring village four kilometers from Haute-Vernet.

In the house lived a 16-year-old boy, whom the public portrays as a person “living on the margins of society.” “This is a young man who did not go to school, known in the city for driving a tractor at high speed,” said a local resident. BFM.

IN novemberThe searches took place at various points in the village of Le Vernet. According to police, police entered ten houses, namely the home of the child’s grandparents. BFMTV.

A March 30, 2024The bones, skull and teeth were found near Vernet-Vernet, France. The discoveries come as authorities reconstructed the moment the child was last seen by bringing together family members, neighbors and witnesses. The family was notified on Sunday, March 31 this year.

Access to the village has been blocked to allow for a more in-depth investigation.