Tragic update on case of missing Emile as two-year-old’s remains found in Alpine village nine months after he vanished

POLICE have announced a tragic update on the case of a missing two-year-old boy in France.

Emile Soleil went missing last year but cops announced today that his remains have been found in an Alpine village almost nine months after he first vanished.

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The Aix-en-Provence public prosecutor’s office announced the sad news saying a walker alerted police of his horrifying find during a hike on Saturday.

They released a statement saying “genetic analysis identifies” the bones as belonging to Emile.

It added that “criminalistic analysis” was now underway as well as “additional research” in the nearby area.

Cops launched a frantic search back on July 8, 2023, in the village of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, when young Emile Soleil disappeared.

He was last seen with his grandfather, Philippe Vedovini, 58, who was looking after Emile for his parents.

Although two people later claimed they saw him wandering around by himself as Philippe chopped wood in his garden.

Emile, who was originally from Bouches-du-Rhône near Marseille, was described as 3ft tall with brown eyes and blonde hair.

The day he disappeared he was wearing a yellow top, white shorts with a green pattern, and hiking shoes.

A source close to the investigation told La Depeche the two witnesses who “confirmed that they saw the child walking alone at the time of his disappearance” are “reliable people” who they “trust completely”.

His grandparents quickly informed the authorities at around 5.15pm local time when they couldn’t find the tot – sparking a massive search for the missing boy.

Over 800 people were involved in the hunt but he was never found despite helicopters, drones and sniffer dogs being used.

Even a recording of Emile’s mum voice was played from loudspeakers in the area that cops thought he could have ended up in.

The cause of his death is still unknown.

At the time, local prosecutor Rémy Avon said the “physical search” ended as if the child was in the area he “should have been found in the perimeter in two days”.

He also said cops were looking into all possible theories and have not ruled out anything.

“At the moment we have no clue, no information, no element that can help us understand this disappearance,” he said.

“The judicial investigation into the causes of the disappearance will continue, in particular by analysing the considerable mass of information and elements collected over the past four days.”

The prosecutor added that detectives were proving all possibilities – including that Emile had been murdered, kidnapped or involved in an accident.

Investigators are believed to have received over 900 calls from the public relating to the case.

Almost all of which were dismissed as unrelated.

Le Vernet resident Gilles Thezan told AFP on Thursday that it was always “nerve-wracking to go for a walk” in the area because you never knew what you were going to find.

“The mood has been heavy since July,” he continued.

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