Part of the mystery is resolved, but the investigation still promises to be long. The identification of part of the bones of little Emile, Sunday March 31 in Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), opens a new page in the investigations carried out for nine months to find this little boy of 2 years and half, disappeared last July while being looked after by his grandparents.
This discovery, made by a walker, occurred two days after a reconstruction of the facts, without a link between the two events being able to be established at this stage. Painstaking work is now being carried out by experts and investigators from the gendarmerie to try to reconstruct the scenario of the tragedy.
A large cordoned off perimeter to avoid polluting the discovery area
The bones found, including the child’s skull, were lying in an area southeast of the place of disappearance, “2 km, between Haut-Vernet and Col du Labouret”, above the hamlet, the mayor of the town, François Balique, explained to AFP. In order to preserve the work of the gendarmes on site, the councilor has again issued an order to prohibit access to Haut-Vernet, with the exception of its residents and public services, until Sunday April 7 at noon.
In order to ensure compliance with this municipal decree, more than 70 gendarmes, from a mobile gendarmerie squadron and the department’s staff, were mobilized to carry out fixed and mobile checks, explained during a press briefing. on site Pierre-Yves Bardy, command of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence gendarmerie group.
Pierre-Yves Bardy, commander of the departmental gendarmerie group, speaks about the work of investigators after the discovery of the bones of little Emile, on April 1, 2024.
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(FRANCEINFO)
Objective : “Allow investigators to work in the best conditions” And “to prevent people from polluting the site.”
Experts, including an anthropologist, to date the presence of these bones
Six experts from the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN) visited the site on Monday. Among them, one “forensic operations coordinator”who supervises “scientific analyses” carried out on the discovery site, as well as an anthropologist, responsible more specifically for the study of the soil, explained to franceinfo and France Télévisions Marie-Laure Pezant, spokesperson for the national gendarmerie.
These specialists will probe the earth on which the bones rested in order to date their presence, using “methods close to those of archaeology”, said the spokesperson. If these remains have been there for a long time, the earth will bear “traces”due to “porosity between a body and the ground”, added Marie-Laure Pezant. If this is not the case, the gendarmerie spokesperson lists the hypotheses to be explored further.
“These bones could have been brought there by a third person, an animal or by weather conditions, which could have degraded the ground and transported part of the body here.”
Marie-Laure Pezant, spokesperson for the gendarmerieat franceinfo and France Télévisions
A movement of the bones, natural or voluntary, seems the preferred option. The possibility that official and citizen searches missed the body during the numerous searches carried out in the area is indeed “fairly small”according to the gendarme, even if the “abundant vegetation in July” has “may have complicated the search”. The two main avenues, accidental or criminal, therefore remain explored.
Dogs to try to find the rest of the body
Dog teams from the National Dog Investigation Center in Gramat (Lot) also arrived on site. “These expert dogs, specialized in the search for human remains, will be able to provide valuable assistance” to try to find the rest of the bones, explained Pierre-Yves Bardy. The discovery of the first bones has indeed considerably narrowed the scope of the research.
“We must now go and search for the entire skeleton”pointed out Sunday on franceinfo Jacques Morel, general of the gendarmerie and former boss of the Versailles research section, expressing surprise at the fact that “the numerous dog teams” previously sent to find Emile have not “not marked where it was found”.
Other clues will also be sought, in particular the clothes of the little boy, dressed at the time of his disappearance in a yellow top, white shorts and hiking shoes.
“If he got there on his own, we should find some items of clothing, even if they are damaged or in tatters.”
Jacques Morel, general of the gendarmerieon franceinfo
To avoid neglecting any element and “harvest the maximum”, “this careful research” may take some time to “rake the area” And “establish the circumstances of death”underlined for her part Marie-Laure Pezant.
Analyzes of bones to try to determine the causes of death
The first bones taken from the site were “transported by helicopter to Pontoise”, IRCGN site, in order to be analyzed as quickly as possible, said gendarmerie commander Pierre-Yves Bardy. The goal was first to confirm, using DNA, that they really belonged to Emile. The rest of the analyzes must attempt to determine the causes of death, by detecting possible traces of blows or animal bites.
According to forensic doctor Bernard Marc, interviewed on franceinfo, “3D imaging will make it possible to analyze the lesions even nine months later.” “The teeth can reveal asphyxiation”, added the head of the Compiègne medical-judicial unit, however expressing several reservations: “soft tissue” (the skin) were destroyed, and no “long bone” has not yet been found.
“If the child died of hypoglycemia or cold, it will be difficult to prove it just by the bones.”
Bernard Marc, forensic doctoron franceinfo
“We are not certain of discovering the cause or circumstances of deathwarned the spokesperson for the gendarmerie, Marie-Laure Pezant. We have some of the bones, we will perhaps not have all the elements to define the circumstances of the death.”he Aix-en-Provence prosecutor, Jean-Luc Blachon, also insisted to AFP: the investigation will still be long, because it is “complex”.