For nine months there was no trace of Émile Soleil, a two-year-old boy who vanished from his grandparents’ house in a village within the French Alps.
Dogs, drones and dozens of volunteers – even a helicopter – scoured the slopes and woods around Haut-Vernet, where ‘Little Émile’ was last seen in July 2023.
It took a hiker by chance stumbling across Émile’s bones in a close-by ravine last March for the query of where he was to be answered.
‘Now that we now have found little Émile, the police will find a way to hurry up their investigation’, local resident Gilles Thézan said on the time, determined to ‘find the wrongdoer’.
But although Émile’s grandparents were this week arrested on suspicion of murder – later to be released at no cost – what happened to two-year-old Émile stays a mystery a 12 months after he was found.
Wondering how such an intensive search could have missed him, some locals are convinced the killer returned to dump Émile’s stays when the world’s attention was turned elsewhere.
That became the view of public prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon. In just the second press conference of the investigation, on March 27, 2025, he said: ‘The garments and bones discovered were transported and deposited shortly before their discovery.’
Others consider he fell victim to an animal attack, or died of hunger, thirst or exhaustion.
François Balique, the Mayor of Haut-Vernet, said it was ‘absolutely incomprehensible’ that Émile got into trouble by himself.
‘I can’t help but consider that an adult is involved on this matter. Émile would never have gone alone to where he was found,’ Mr Balique said.
How the search unfolded
July 8, 2023Émile goes missing
The toddler is dropped off at his grandparents’ house near Le Vernet, a small village within the French Alps, where a family reunion is being held. Émile is last seen playing within the garden and is reported missing at 5.15pm.
July 9, 2023Search and rescue scour the realm
A large search is underway within the mountains, including a helicopter, drones and sniffer dogs. They soak up a 1,200 acre area but there isn’t any trace of Émile.
July 10, 2023Search is made wider
After a public appeal has still yielded no results, the realm being examined is made wider. Police search Émile’s parents’ home near Marseille, 200 miles away, where they’re staying for the summer holidays.
July 11, 2023Mum’s voice played from speakers
A recording of Émile’s mother’s voice is given to pilots to play ‘as loud as possible’ from speakers on the aircraft to try to reach the toddler and find where he’s. Local houses are also examined.
July 13, 2023Search officially ends
A possible lead involves nothing after blood found on a automotive yesterday is analysed as coming from an animal. The search is wound down with still no answers about what happened.
July 19Outsiders still banned from village
A restriction on those that should not local entering Le Vernet is renewed, to stop ‘malicious tourism’ after the case generated plenty of media interest.
Local prosecutor Remy Avon says authorities are still taking a look at all possibilities, including murder, kidnap or an accident corresponding to being run over by a tractor or mix harvester.
September 19, 2023Search resumes for a time
Divers search a lake near Grenoble again in a bid to seek out Émile, shortly after detectives used a jackhammer to interrupt apart a slab at a house near where Émile’s family lived.
Le Vernet mayor François Balique says it seems the boy will need to have been moved from the realm by ‘a madman, or someone Machiavellian’, as no trace has been found.
March 28, 2024family re-enacts Émile’s last moments
Police summoned 17 members of the family, neighbours and witnesses to Haut-Vernet to re-enact the last moments before Émile disappeared.
March 30, 2024Child’s stays present in France
A hiker discovers a skull and other stays while walking within the Alps, just over a mile from where Émile was last seen. They’re passed to police
March 31, 2024Émile confirmed dead
Genetic evaluation confirms that the bones found are those of Émile. The invention sparks renewed press interest, and likewise questions on why they weren’t found before given the big search in the realm.
Mayor Balique said: ‘The gendarmes couldn’t have missed him with the dogs. There was even logging there in autumn. The wood cutters didn’t see anything either. It’s incomprehensible.’
His parents speak of their grief via their lawyer, who said: ‘This heartbreaking news was feared… (They) know on this Resurrection Sunday that Émile watches over them in the sunshine and tenderness of God.’
February 8, 2025Émile’s funeral
Lots of of individuals attended Émile’s funeral on February 8.
Amongst them were his entire family, including little sister Alaïs, nearly three years old, and his brother Vincent, who was born in October.
March 22, 2025Priest who baptised Émile kills himself
Father Claude Gilliot, the 85-year-old Catholic priest who baptised Émile and later fell out with the toddler’s grandfather, killed himself.
His sister said: ‘Claudine Vandenbroucke, said: ‘I’m very indignant with Émile’s family, because I feel it began with them.’
March 25, 2025grandparents arrested on suspicion of murder
Philippe and Anne Vedovini, the grandparents who were minding Émile when he disappeared, were arrested in dawn raids near Marseilles.
They, together with two of their children – Émile’s aunts or uncles – were held on suspicion of murder and concealing a body.
March 27, 2025grandparents released at no cost
After two days of questioning, police released Émile’s relatives at no cost.
March 27, 2025prosecutor says Émle was ‘transported and deposited’
In just the second press conference because the investigation began in July 2023, public prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon said: ‘The garments and bones discovered were transported and deposited shortly before their discovery.’
Evidence on Émile’s skull suggested a ‘violent facial trauma’.
Blachon said: ‘The expert reports introduce the probability of the intervention of a 3rd party within the disappearance and death of Emile Soleil.’
When did Émile Soleil go missing?
Neighbours last saw Émile walking Haut-Vernet’s only street around 5.15pm on Saturday, July 8, in 2023. He was wearing a yellow t-shirt and white shorts.
His grandmother, Anne Vedovini, now 59, said there have been ‘fifteen minutes of inattention’ when Émile disapeared while under her care.
A witness claims to have seen grandfather Philippe Vedovini, also 59, cutting wood outside the home around this time.
Where was Émile found?
The stays were present in the Auches Ravine, just over a mile from where Émile was last seen playing.
This area had been a part of the large seek for Émile, although the prosecutor said he couldn’t confirm that exact area had been scoured.
Gilles Thézan, a resident of Haut-Vernet, told Le Parisien: ‘There’s a trick occurring.Every thing was raked from top to bottom.
‘I say that the baby died and that somebody went to cover him there much later.
‘We’re going to have to seek out the wrongdoer. Now that we now have found little Émile, the police will find a way to hurry up their investigation, even with what stays of the body.’
Marie-Laure Pezant, a spokeswoman for the local gendarmerie (police) told French TV that it was possible the bones had been placed there by an individual, nevertheless it could even have been by an animal. Or they might even have ended up there resulting from changing weather conditions.
Additionally it is possible that they were simply missed through the search last 12 months, when undergrowth through the summer was thicker.
Jean-Luc Blachon, the Aix-en-Provence prosecutor, said he could confirm that area was searched ‘but not using drones or specialised dogs.’
He added: ‘Right now, we cannot say whether Émile’s body was already within the searched area. I cannot say that each square meter was searched.
‘The topography there’s difficult with steep slopes making remark and excavation difficult.
‘It was also highly regarded in July 2023, with temperatures of greater than 30°C within the shade. which could have affected the effectiveness of the tracking dogs and infrared cameras’.
Police commander Pierre-Yves Bardy told reporters yesterday: ‘We’re on the lookout for any trace and any clue.’
Nonetheless, their investigation could also be hampered by the incontrovertible fact that the lady who found the stays picked up the skull and took it away in a plastic bag to alert police, thus disturbing a possible crime scene.
‘It will have been higher if she hadn’t touched anything,’ a source told Le Figaro.
Why were the grandparents been arrested?
Philippe and Anne Vedovini were arrested, together with two of their children, Émile’s aunts or uncles – during dawn raids of their home in Marseilles on Tuesday, March 25.
Held on suspicion of murder and concealing a body, their arrests reportedly followed months of wiretaps that allowed police to listen into the family’s conversations.
They were released at no cost two days later.
Investigators have conducted 287 witness interviews, carried out 50 searches, followed up 3,141 reports and combed around 285 hectares, the general public prosecutor said on Thursday, March 27.
It was only the second press conference they’ve given because the seek for Émile began in July 2023. The primary was when his body was found last 12 months.
Police could take the Vedovinis back into custody at any point within the investigation.
Get in contact with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: The ‘hidden’ French town where UK travellers can fly for just £15
MORE: Murdered teenager’s chilling letter that foresaw his own death
MORE: Missing teenager’s dad arrested after her body is found with hands cut off
