The grandparents of a two-year-old boy found dead within the French Alps have been arrested on suspicion of murder.
Émile Soleil was staying at Philippe and Anne Vedovini’s isolated holiday home within the hamlet of Haut-Vernet, south of Grenboble, when he went missing in July 2023.
He was found dead with a fractured skull, which bore a bite mark, roughly a mile away nine months later in March last 12 months.
Early this morning, police raided the grandparents’ home near Marseille where they arrested them on suspicion of murder and concealing the body.
Two of their nine children were arrested nearby.
In a press release, prosecutors said: ‘This morning, Philippe Vedovini and his wife, grandparents of Émile Soleil, together with two of their adult children, were taken into custody.
‘These police custody placements are a part of a phase of verification and comparison of the evidence and knowledge gathered in the course of the investigations carried out in recent months.
The statement adds: ‘Investigators are also conducting forensic operations in various locations across the country.’
Mr Vedovini, a physiotherapist-osteopath, was seen by a witness cutting wood outside the Haut-Vernet house across the time Émile is believed to have disappeared.
The 2-year-old went missing while under the supervision of his grandmother, who admitted there have been ‘fifteen minutes of inattention’.
It had been considered possible Émile had wandered off and got lost within the wilderness.
The invention of his clothes scattered over several metres near his body led to speculation amongst locals that he had been attacked by wolves.
Others suggested he had died from hunger, thirst or exhaustion, French newspaper Le Parisien reported.
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