LE VERNET: French investigators have found the remains of a toddler who went missing last year in an Alpine village in a case that shocked the nation, and are working to determine how he died, a prosecutor said Sunday.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Emile Soleil vanished on July 8 last year while staying with his grandparents. Two neighbours last saw him in the late afternoon walking alone on a street in Le Vernet, 1,200 metres (4,000 feet) above sea level in the French Alps.

“On Saturday, the police was informed of the discovery of bones near the hamlet of Le Vernet,” prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon said. He added that genetic testing had shown they were the remains of Emile. It marked the first major breakthrough in the case.

The prosecutor did not give a cause of death, but said that forensic investigators were continuing to analyse the bones, which were spotted by a walker.

The prosecutor added that police were carrying out new searches in the area where the body was found. A roadblock had been set up on the only road into Le Vernet on Sunday. Emile disappeared the day after he arrived in the village to stay with his maternal grandparents in their second home for the holidays.

The little boy, barely 90 centimetres (35 inches) tall, was wearing a yellow T-shirt, white shorts and tiny hiking shoes, a call for witnesses at the time said. A massive on-the-ground search involving dozens of police officers and soldiers, sniffer dogs, a helicopter and drones failed to find him in July.

A prosecutor said after several days it was unlikely that such a young child would have survived in the summer heat.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2024