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Video length: 3 min
Disappearance of little Émile: nine months of investigation and mystery
Bones belonging to the two and a half year old little boy were found on Saturday March 30, in Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). A look back at nine months of mystery in the hamlet.
(Franceinfo)
Bones belonging to the two and a half year old little boy were found on Saturday March 30, in Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). A look back at nine months of mystery in the hamlet.
On July 8, 2023 in Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), little Émile disappeared during a family party organized at his grandparents’ house. The grandfather claimed that the child escaped his vigilance at 4:30 p.m. The alert was given two hours later. That same evening, great efforts were made to find him. Sinophile teams, helicopters, police, firefighters and residents of Vernet even organized searches. In all, 800 people mobilized.
An incomprehensible disappearance
In the following months, residents continued to be questioned. The gendarmes searched the telephones and searched all the houses. After five months, no trace of the child. On December 7, new aerial searches were carried out, in the middle of winter, to no avail.
Reenactment scenes were carried out in the hamlet with witnesses and little Émile’s family. Nine months after his disappearance, Saturday March 30, a walker finally discovered the bones of the two and a half year old boy, about a kilometer from the grandparents’ home. On July 8, Émile was last seen at 5:15 p.m. by two neighbors near a fountain at the exit of the hamlet. All scenarios, such as a fall, a road accident or even the criminal trail had been considered by the investigators.
