Missing French toddler – latest: ‘Only hope is Emile has been taken and is alive,’ Le Vernet mayor says
The mayor of Le Vernet has said “our only hope is Emile has been taken and is alive” in a new interview, as the whereabouts of the French toddler who went missing last Saturday remain unknown.
Francois Balique spoke to French newspaper Le Figaro about possible explanations for the two-year-old boy’s disappearance from his grandparents’ home in the Alpine village over the weekend.
Mr Balique said: “Our only hope now is that he’s been taken and is alive. It’s the last thing we can hope for and it’s already terrible. We could conceive that someone wanting a child passed by the area, saw this beautiful little boy and took him away. He couldn’t survive alone in the wild, that’s for sure.”
The physical search for Emile was called off yesterday, as law enforcement officials shift the focus of their investigation to sifting through evidence that’s been collected so far.
Local prosecutor Remy Avon said: “The investigation into the causes of his disappearance will continue, notably through analysis of the considerable amount of information and elements gathered over four days.”
Key Points
Search for missing two-year-old Emile called off
Airborne search teams broadcasting recording of toddler’s mother ‘as loud as possible’
'We are not losing hope', says prefect
Final searches for missing Emile end
Le Vernet expected to remain closed over the weekend
“Best hope” for missing toddler in France is “if he’s been kidnapped”
19:03 , Laura Sharman
The best hope for a toddler missing in France is that “he’s been kidnapped and is alive,” the local mayor has said.
Two-year-old Emile has not been seen since he vanished from his maternal grandparents’ home in the quiet village of Le Vernet in the Alpes-des-Haute-Provence on Saturday.
He was reported missing which prompted a large scale search operation to locate him but five days later, police admitted they had “no clue” what happened to the tot and called off the physical search.
In a new interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, local mayor Francois Balique commented on the rescue efforts, that involved a helicopter broadcasting the voice of Emile’s mother over the region.
He said: “Our only hope now is that he’s been taken and is alive. It’s the last thing we can hope for and it’s already terrible.
“We could consider that someone wanting to cause harm to a child passed by the area, that he saw this beautiful little boy and took him away. He couldn’t survive alone in the wild, that’s for sure.”
Messages of hope for missing toddler Emile after police call off search
16:48 , Laura Sharman
Messages of hope continue to pour in for missing French toddler Emile after police called off the physical search yesterday.
In an emotional comment on Twitter, one person wrote: "Emile does not leave our thoughts.
"His beautiful face haunts our hearts which are afraid for him. All our prayers to find this little angel safe and sound."
Another person wrote: “All my thoughts for this little child”.
A third added: “Everyone should be sad and worried for this little boy and hope he is found soon.”
Mayor offers possible explanation for Emile’s disappearance
15:35 , Maanya Sachdeva
The mayor of Vernet has said offered a possible explanation for Emile’s disappearance in his interview with French newspaper Le Figaro.
“It is difficult to favour one hypothesis over another,” Francois Balique said. “But the probabilities and the rationality would lead us to believe that we are dealing with an accident. And since little Emile’s body has not been found, it means that he was not alone at the time.
“We can consider a car accident in which the driver would have panicked and concealed the body. That’s one hypothesis. In any case, in the village, we never believed it to be a sordid kidnapping because we see all the people who frequent the area. A foreign car would have been noticed,” he added.
Le Vernet mayor says only hope is Emile ‘has been taken and is alive’
14:26 , Maanya Sachdeva
The mayor of Le Vernet has said “our only hope is Emile has been taken and is alive,” as the whereabouts of the French toddler who went missing last Saturday remain unknown.
In an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Francois Balique was asked about possible explanations for Emile’s disappearance, after the two-year-old vanished from his grandparents’ home in the Alpine village.
Mr Balique said: “Our only hope now is that he’s been taken and is alive. It’s the last thing we can hope for and it’s already terrible. We could conceive that someone wanting a child passed by the area, saw this beautiful little boy and took him away. He couldn’t survive alone in the wild, that’s for sure.”
Mayor says last teams of gendarmes have left Le Vernet: ‘Investigation continuing elsewhere’
11:39 , Maanya Sachdeva
The mayor of Le Vernet, Francois Balique gave reporters an update in the search for Emile during a press conference on Friday.
He confirmed the last teams of gendarmes, military police officers, had left the Alpine village, following a final search for the two-year-old boy on Thursday. “The investigation is continuing elsewhere,” Mr Balique said, according to La Provence.
He also expressed his desire for life in Le Vernet to return to some degree of normalcy in the wake of the extensive search operation, adding: “We are a small mountain village, a normal village.”
Neighbour describes Emile as ‘very sociable child’
10:39 , Maanya Sachdeva
A Le Vernet resident, who has lived in the Alpine village for 20 years, described missing toddler Emile as a “very sociable child”.
The retiree told La Provence his family is “very close knit, very religious” and that she went to see “how I could help them” after she learned Emile was missing.
She also said she never expected a “tragedy” like this in Le Vernet, but shared she had always been “wary” and “never left my grandson alone”. Despite that, he once “escaped” her attention and was later brought home by a neighbour.
“Everyone told me that I was too stressed. It’s true that in the hamletm the children walk around, everyone knows them, we always know from which family is such a child.” she added.
Le Vernet has become ‘village of chaos’, local politician says
09:39 , Maanya Sachdeva
“It has become the village of chaos,” Christian Girard, the National Assembly representative for the Alpes-des-Haute department, said.
“With everything that has happened in recent years, it’s really sad. I think Vernet did not need this additional publicity,” Mr Girard told La Provence, referring to a slew of tragedies that have struck the quiet Alpine village in the last 15 years.
Le Vernet’s mayor since 1977, Francois Balique also reacted to the village’s history of devastation, including the crash of Germanwings flight 9525, adding: “We are alone in these moments.”
He told the French-language publication: “For the Germanwings [crash], I did not have the support of a single elected official. For Emile, I must admit that I had a lot more messages.”
Local volunteers ‘looked everywhere’ for Emile, one person says
08:39 , Maanya Sachdeva
The manager of a local restaurant said staff had looked “everywhere for Emile” after news spread that the two-year-old toddler had vanished from his grandparents’ home in Le Vernet, an Alpine village with around 20 homes.
“We were preparing for the evening service, when we were told the child had gone missing,” the manager told La Provence.
“We all went to see what we could do to help as quickly as possible. “We have looked in places where he could be, we have really looked everywhere for him.”
Everything we know about Emile’s disappearance
07:39 , Maanya Sachdeva
Nearly a week since two-year-old Emile was last seen, here’s everything we know about his disappearance:
On Saturday 8 July, the toddler went missing from a property in Le Vernet, a small village in the Alpes-des-Haute-Provence with around 125 inhabitants. Emile’s family lives in Marseille, and he was on holiday at his maternal grandparents’ home at the time of his disappearance.
Police said at least 10 people were present at the property amid a family reunion, including Emile’s aunts and uncles as well as “some minors”.
The family was due to leave for a hiking outing, and Emile’s grandparents noticed he was missing when they went to put him in the car.
Emile was reportedly seen by two people when he left their home but they “lost sight of him”. Described as 3ft tall, with brown eyes and blond hair, Emile was wearing a yellow T-shirt, white shorts with a green pattern, and walking shoes when he disappeared.
Police issued an appeal for information about Emile on 9 July and launched an extensive search operation in Le Vernet, aided by nearly 500 volunteers.
On 13 July, the search was called off and investigators admitted they had “no clue” what had happened to Emile.
Police will now sort through evidence that has been collected to try and establish Emile’s whereabouts.
‘It reminds us of a lot of things’: Local mayor reflects as two-year-old remains missing
06:30 , Eleanor Noyce
A local mayor has reflected on the decades-old case of a 3-year-old that went missing in Ganagobie, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in 1989.
“It reminds us of a lot of things. I sent a little message of support to the mayor of Vernet, François Balique”, Ganagobie mayor Sylvie Belmonte told La Provence, referencing the disappearance of 3-year-old Yannis Moré in May 1989.
“I was town clerk and I took part in the search to try to find little Yannis”, he added.
Yannis had disappeared whilst playing with his three brothers, prompting a search of one hundred gendarmes, soldiers, firefighters and volunteers. However, there were no witnesses, no clues and no suspect.
“We had been settled in Ganagobie for 18 months... I saw them having fun from the window”, Yannis’s mother, Pascaline Moré, told La Provence in 2016. “We give ourselves hope”, she added.
What has the search for two-year-old Emile entailed?
06:00 , Eleanor Noyce
500 volunteers helped with the search for two-year-old Emile, who has been missing since Saturday.
Two-year-old Emile was last seen playing in the garden of a property in Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute department of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, with his grandparents notifying the police of his disappearance at around 5.15pm local time on Saturday.
“At this point, we don’t have any clues allowing us to follow any particular theory (on his whereabouts)”, the local prosecutor told Franceinfo Radio earlier this week.
Meanwhile, a volunteer named Roxanne told the AFP news agency on Monday: “We took part in a big search this morning with 50 other people.
“There was a gap of two metres (7 feet) between each of us, we looked in the fields, and in the woods.
“We looked out for the smallest clue, maybe an item of clothing or a shoe he could have lost.”
The dedicated hotline has received 1,200 calls, with 30 buildings searched, 25 people interviewed, 12 vehicles searched and 12 hectares raked.
Le Vernet: Locals of French village at centre of search for boy fear village is ‘cursed’ after previous tragedies
05:30 , Maroosha Muzaffar
The French village of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has been struck by tragedy following the disappearance of a young boy.
Émile, aged two-and-a-half, was playing in the garden of his grandparent’s house when he vanished on Saturday afternoon.
Since then, a desperate search has been underway to try and find the missing toddler.
But this isn’t the first time that the sleepy village has been struck by tragedy.
Locals speaking to the media have said they are worried their village may be “cursed” as a result of the unfortunate tragedies which have taken place over the last 15 years.
Read the full story here:
Deadly plane crash, cafe murder and missing toddler in village ‘cursed’ by tragedy
Memories of an unsolved missing case revived in the French Alps
05:00 , Maroosha Muzaffar
The disappearance of Emile has brought back memories of another missing boy named Yannis More who also vanished from a village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence almost 30 years ago.
The case was never solved.
More than thirty years before Emile, a young boy, named Yannis More, also disappeared in a village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, BFMTV reported.
Emile’s disappearance has revived the memories in Ganagobie, a village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.
“It brings back bad memories,” Sylvie Belmonte, mayor of Ganagobie, told BFMTV.com.
Local reports said that Yannis More disappeared on 2 May 1989 in Ganagobie, a village of about 90 inhabitants. No suspects have ever been identified.
Search operation called off but investigation ongoing
04:25 , Maroosha Muzaffar
Officials say they are still investigating Emile’s disappearance, although a major land and air search operation to find the toddler has now been called off.
Remy Avon, the prosecutor of Digne-les-Bains, said in a statement: “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.”
Two-year-old Emile was on holiday at his grandparents’ home on Saturday when he vanished without a trace from the small village of Vernet, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence area of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region.
What has the search for two-year-old Emile entailed?
03:00 , Eleanor Noyce
500 volunteers helped with the search for two-year-old Emile, who has been missing since Saturday.
Two-year-old Emile was last seen playing in the garden of a property in Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute department of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, with his grandparents notifying the police of his disappearance at around 5.15pm local time on Saturday.
“At this point, we don’t have any clues allowing us to follow any particular theory (on his whereabouts)”, the local prosecutor told Franceinfo Radio earlier this week.
Meanwhile, a volunteer named Roxanne told the AFP news agency on Monday: “We took part in a big search this morning with 50 other people.
“There was a gap of two metres (7 feet) between each of us, we looked in the fields, and in the woods.
“We looked out for the smallest clue, maybe an item of clothing or a shoe he could have lost.”
The dedicated hotline has received 1,200 calls, with 30 buildings searched, 25 people interviewed, 12 vehicles searched and 12 hectares raked.
Le Vernet expected to remain closed over the weekend
02:00 , Eleanor Noyce
Closed to the public since Tuesday, Le Vernet is expected to remain so for a few days.
The existing decree - in place since Tuesday - will likely be renewed over the weekend to “protect families and channel any tourism of curiosity”, mayor François Balique told AFP.
“Until we know the truth, it will be tense. It’s hard on the family, this uncertainty is awful. And the people of the village need to know what happened.”
Deadly plane crash, cafe murder and now missing toddler in the French village ‘cursed’ by tragedy
01:30 , Eleanor Noyce
The French village of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has dominated headlines following the disappearance of a young boy this weekend.
Émile, aged two-and-a-half, was playing in the garden of his grandparent’s house when he vanished on Saturday afternoon. A desperate hunt –involving helicopters, drones, and sniffer dogs – has been taking place to try and find the missing toddler.
A dedicated hotline number has received over 1,200 phone calls, but police still have “no clue” about Émile’s whereabouts as fears for his safety intensify on the fifth day since he went missing.
Le Vernet has been the site of a gruesome killing and devastating plane crash in the last 15 years, Matt Drake and Maanya Sachdeva report:
Deadly plane crash, cafe murder and missing toddler in village ‘cursed’ by tragedy
In pictures: The search for missing two-year-old Emile
Friday 14 July 2023 00:20 , Eleanor Noyce
French police searching for a two-year-old boy who went missing from his grandparents’ garden in the French Alps on Saturday said on Tuesday they had no clues as to what could have happened to him.
The boy, Emile, was last seen walking down the street of his grandparents’ house - located in a remote mountain outpost with only two dozen inhabitants - by two witnesses on Saturday afternoon, a prosecutor said.
On Thursday, local prosecutor Remy Avon said the previous searches did not yield any clues to solving the mystery of the boy’s disappearance and instead, investigators will be shifting their focus to evaluating evidence already gathered.
He added: “The investigation into the causes of his disappearance will continue, notably through analysis of the considerable amount of information and elements gathered over four days.”
ICYMI: Final searches for missing Emile end as police comb through existing evidence
Thursday 13 July 2023 23:20 , Eleanor Noyce
As the final searches end, police will now comb through the existing evidence in the hopes of finding missing Emile.
Local prosecutor Remy Avon said the previous searches did not yield any clues to solving the mystery of the boy’s disappearance and instead, investigators will be shifting their focus to evaluating evidence already gathered.
He added: “The investigation into the causes of his disappearance will continue, notably through analysis of the considerable amount of information and elements gathered over four days.”
Since 8am on Thursday morning, gendarmes had been carrying out final searches of the Alpine village of Le Vernet where the two-year-old went missing last Saturday, focusing on a 1.8km-long road.
With 97 hectares swept across three days, the physical search will not resume tomorrow unless the investigation uncovers any significant leads that necessitate it.
‘It reminds us of a lot of things’: Local mayor reflects as two-year-old remains missing
Thursday 13 July 2023 22:20 , Eleanor Noyce
A local mayor has reflected on the decades-old case of a 3-year-old that went missing in Ganagobie, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in 1989.
“It reminds us of a lot of things. I sent a little message of support to the mayor of Vernet, François Balique”, Ganagobie mayor Sylvie Belmonte told La Provence, referencing the disappearance of 3-year-old Yannis Moré in May 1989.
“I was town clerk and I took part in the search to try to find little Yannis”, he added.
Yannis had disappeared whilst playing with his three brothers, prompting a search of one hundred gendarmes, soldiers, firefighters and volunteers. However, there were no witnesses, no clues and no suspect.
“We had been settled in Ganagobie for 18 months... I saw them having fun from the window”, Yannis’s mother, Pascaline Moré, told La Provence in 2016. “We give ourselves hope”, she added.
‘They always do everything together’, close family member says of Emile’s family
Thursday 13 July 2023 21:19 , Eleanor Noyce
A close family member has spoken of the close-knit family missing two-year-old Emile comes from.
“They always do everything together”, a close family member told La Provence, adding that Emile’s mother is the eldest of ten siblings.
“You know, when you have enough children to form two teams to play ball, there is no need to mix.”
Toddler ‘can’t evaporate like that’, says resident
Thursday 13 July 2023 20:05 , Eleanor Noyce
Jean-Marcel, a friend of the grandparents of the missing toddler, said the child could not have “evaporated” from the hamlet, which is used to seeing children playing freely in the street.
“On Saturday night I heard the news on the phone and said to myself that they will find the boy,” the man, a resident of Haut-Vernet, told local network BFM DICI.
“Then afterwards, when 24 hours, 48 ââhours passed and you realise that a two-and-a-half-year-old can’t evaporate like that, it’s a big worry.”
Where is Le Vernet?
Thursday 13 July 2023 19:01 , Eleanor Noyce
Two-year-old Emile went missing in Le Vernet, a small mountain village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department and the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in southeastern France.
It has a population of approximately 100.
Deadly plane crash, cafe murder and now missing toddler in the French village ‘cursed’ by tragedy
Thursday 13 July 2023 18:01 , Eleanor Noyce
The French village of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has dominated headlines following the disappearance of a young boy this weekend.
Émile, aged two-and-a-half, was playing in the garden of his grandparent’s house when he vanished on Saturday afternoon. A desperate hunt –involving helicopters, drones, and sniffer dogs – has been taking place to try and find the missing toddler.
Read more:
Deadly plane crash, cafe murder and missing toddler in village ‘cursed’ by tragedy
Final searches for missing Emile end
Thursday 13 July 2023 16:21 , Eleanor Noyce
Since 8am on Thursday morning, gendarmes have been carrying out final searches of the area where two-year-old Emile went missing last Saturday.
With 97 hectares swept across three days, the search will not resume tomorrow unless the investigation uncovers any significant leads that necessitate it.
On Thursday morning, local prosecutor Rémy Avon said in a statement that the search for the toddler had not yielded any clues.
Emile was last seen playing in the garden of a property in Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute department of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, with his grandparents notifying the police of his disappearance at around 5.15pm local time on Saturday.
Le Vernet expected to remain closed over the weekend
Thursday 13 July 2023 15:30 , Eleanor Noyce
Closed to the public since Tuesday, Le Vernet is expected to remain so for a few days.
The existing decree - in place since Tuesday and expiring on Thursday evening - will likely be renewed over the weekend to “protect families and channel any tourism of curiosity”, mayor François Balique told AFP.
“Until we know the truth, it will be tense. It’s hard on the family, this uncertainty is awful. And the people of the village need to know what happened.”
‘It’s a very good family, very close-knit, very religious’, Le Vernet resident says of Emile’s family
Thursday 13 July 2023 14:30 , Eleanor Noyce
One resident of Le Vernet, who has lived in the hamlet for over 20 years, has described Emile’s family as “very close-knit.”
“It’s a very good family, very close-knit, very religious”, she told La Provence, describing Emile as a “very sociable child.”
“It’s true that in the hamlet the children walk around, everyone knows them, we always know from which family is such a child”, she added.
‘Physical search’ for Emile can go no further, prosecutor says
Thursday 13 July 2023 13:00 , Maanya Sachdeva
Last evening, local prosecutor Rémy Avon said the “physical search” was being called off after four days of an extensive operation in and around the Alpine village.
“The judicial investigation into the causes of the disappearance will continue,” Mr Avon added. “In particular by analysing the considerable mass of information and elements collected over the past four days.”
Deadly plane crash, cafe murder and now missing toddler in the French village ‘cursed’ by tragedy
Thursday 13 July 2023 12:00 , Maanya Sachdeva
In the wake of Emile’s disappearance, locals speaking to the media said they are worried their village may be “cursed” while recalling it was the site of a gruesome murder and a devastating plane crash that left 149 people dead.
Full story here:
Deadly plane crash, cafe murder and missing toddler in village ‘cursed’ by tragedy
ICYMI: Blood found on vehicle in search for Emile ‘not human’
Thursday 13 July 2023 11:00 , Maanya Sachdeva
Last evening, it was reported that a vehicle with blood on it had been found amid the ongoing search for missing French toddler Emile, who disappeared from his grandparents’ home in Le Vernet last Saturday.
In a statement to La Provence, local prosecutor Rémy Avon said analysis had revealed the sample “was not himan blood but animal blood”.
Emile has now been missing for over five days, as investigators admitted they have “no clue” what happened to the boy.
In pictures: The search for Emile
Thursday 13 July 2023 10:00 , Maanya Sachdeva
Emile has now been missing for over 96 hours, after he vanished from his grandparents’ property in Haut-Vernet on Saturday.
Here are some pictures from the quaint village in the south of France, where an extensive search for Emile was underway before it was called off on Wednesday:
‘Final plot of land to be searched in search for Emile’
Thursday 13 July 2023 09:00 , Maanya Sachdeva
According to local news reports, a final plot of land around Haut-Vernet will be combed through in the search for Emile on Thursday,
The operation could last until around 4pm, French channel BFMTV reported.
Earlier this morning, local prosecutor Rémy Avon said in a statement said the massive search for Emile had not yielded any clues in solving the mystery of his disappearance last weekend, on Saturday.
‘It reminds us of a lot of things’: Local mayor reflects as Emile remains missing
Thursday 13 July 2023 08:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
As the search continues for two-year-old Emile, a local mayor has reflected on the decades-old case of a three-year-old that went missing in Ganagobie, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in 1989.
“It reminds us of a lot of things. I sent a little message of support to the mayor of Vernet, François Balique”, Ganagobie mayor Sylvie Belmonte told La Provence, referencing the disappearance of 3-year-old Yannis Moré in May 1989.
“I was town clerk and I took part in the search to try to find little Yannis”, he added.
Yannis had disappeared whilst playing with his three brothers, prompting a search of one hundred gendarmes, soldiers, firefighters and volunteers. However, there were no witnesses, no clues and no suspect.
“We had been settled in Ganagobie for 18 months... I saw them having fun from the window”, Yannis’s mother, Pascaline Moré, told La Provence in 2016. “We give ourselves hope”, she added.
'They always do everything together’, close family member says of Emile’s family
Thursday 13 July 2023 07:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
A close family member has spoken of the close-knit family missing two-year-old Emile comes from.
“They always do everything together”, a close family member told La Provence, adding that Emile’s mother is the eldest of ten siblings.
“You know, when you have enough children to form two teams to play ball, there is no need to mix.”
Locals describe Emile’s family as ‘religious’
Thursday 13 July 2023 07:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Locals have described the family of missing French toddler Emile as “very quiet and pious” and “very religious”.
The two-year-old boy’s family “goes to mass and sings religious hymns in Latin”, residents told local network BFM DICI.
“They are very good people. A happy, carefree and problem-free family, very loving and very believing. It seems incredible, inconceivable”, said Therese, a resident of La Bouilladisse, where the toddler lives with his family.
Desperate search for French toddler
Thursday 13 July 2023 06:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
A desperate search is underway for a toddler who vanished from a garden while on holiday with his grandparents in the south of France.
Two-year-old Emile, whose surname is unknown, was playing in the garden of a property in Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence on Saturday when he went missing.
His family was preparing to go out for the day when they noticed Emile had vanished, François Balique, the mayor of Le Vernet, told local media.
“He took advantage of this fleeting moment [of inattention] to leave,” he said of the boy’s disappearance. “His grandparents realised he was no longer there when they went to put him in the car.”
Matt Mathers reports.
Desperate search for French toddler who vanished on holiday with grandparents
Toddler ‘can’t evaporate like that’, says resident
Thursday 13 July 2023 06:05 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Jean-Marcel, a friend of the grandparents of the missing toddler, said the child could not have “evaporated” from the hamlet, which is used to seeing children playing freely in the street.
“On Saturday night I heard the news on the phone and said to myself that they will find the boy,” the man, a resident of Haut-Vernet, told local network BFM DICI.
“Then afterwards, when 24 hours, 48 ââhours passed and you realize that a two-and-a-half-year-old can’t evaporate like that, it’s a big worry.”
Locals fear village where Emile went missing may be ‘cursed’
Thursday 13 July 2023 05:35 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
The French village of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has dominated headlines following the disappearance of a young boy this weekend.
Emile, aged two-and-a-half, was playing in the garden of his grandparent’s house when he vanished on Saturday afternoon.
While hope for Emile remains, this isn’t the first time the sleepy village has been rocked by heart-wrenching events.
Locals speaking to the media said they are worried their village may be “cursed” while recalling it was the site of a gruesome murder and a devastating plane crash that left 149 people dead.
More here.
Deadly plane crash, cafe murder and missing toddler in village ‘cursed’ by tragedy
French authorities have ‘no clue’ about missing toddler
Thursday 13 July 2023 05:03 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
French police have reportedly admitted to searching through masses of public data after failing to find leads in the hunt for the missing two-year-old toddler.
Local prosecutor Remy Avon said the police “have no clue, no information, no element that can help us understand this disappearance”, according to The Mirror.
He stressed that there had been no progress made since the child’s disappearance. “We are at the same point as the day before yesterday after receiving the two testimonies,” Mr Avon said.
“We are really pushing the investigations on the ground as much as we can.”
Search for missing toddler called off
Thursday 13 July 2023 04:15 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
A massive air and land search for a two-year-old missing toddler in a hamlet in the French Alps has been called off, investigators said, adding that they will now shift their focus to evaluation of evidence already gathered.
Local prosecutor Rémy Avon said in a statement said the massive search did not yield any clues to solving the mystery of the boy’s disappearance.
He added: “The investigation into the causes of his disappearance will continue, notably through analysis of the considerable amount of information and elements gathered over four days.”
Dozens of police officers and soldiers, backed by dog teams and a helicopter, were pressed into the search operation around Haut Vernet.
Desperate search for French toddler who vanished on holiday with grandparents
Thursday 13 July 2023 02:00 , Eleanor Noyce
A desperate search is underway for a toddler who vanished from a garden while on holiday with his grandparents in the south of France.
Two-year-old Emile, whose surname is unknown, was playing in the garden of a property in Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence on Saturday when he went missing.
His family was preparing to go out for the day when they noticed Emile had vanished, François Balique, the mayor of Le Vernet, told local media.
“He took advantage of this fleeting moment [of inattention] to leave,” he said of the boy’s disappearance.
Read the full story:
Desperate search for French toddler who vanished on holiday with grandparents
Deadly plane crash, cafe murder and now missing toddler in the French village ‘cursed’ by tragedy
Thursday 13 July 2023 01:00 , Eleanor Noyce
The French village of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has dominated headlines following the disappearance of a young boy this weekend.
Émile, aged two-and-a-half, was playing in the garden of his grandparent’s house when he vanished on Saturday afternoon. A desperate hunt –involving helicopters, drones, and sniffer dogs – has been taking place to try and find the missing toddler.
A dedicated hotline number has received over 1,200 phone calls, but police still have “no clue” about Émile’s whereabouts as fears for his safety intensify on the fifth day since he went missing.
Le Vernet has been the site of a gruesome killing and devastating plane crash in the last 15 years, Matt Drake and Maanya Sachdeva report:
Deadly plane crash, cafe murder and missing toddler in village ‘cursed’ by tragedy
‘It reminds us of a lot of things’: Local mayor reflects as two-year-old remains missing
Thursday 13 July 2023 00:01 , Eleanor Noyce
As the search continues for two-year-old Emile, a local mayor has reflected on the decades-old case of a 3-year-old that went missing in Ganagobie, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in 1989.
“It reminds us of a lot of things. I sent a little message of support to the mayor of Vernet, François Balique”, Ganagobie mayor Sylvie Belmonte told La Provence, referencing the disappearance of 3-year-old Yannis Moré in May 1989.
“I was town clerk and I took part in the search to try to find little Yannis”, he added.
Yannis had disappeared whilst playing with his three brothers, prompting a search of one hundred gendarmes, soldiers, firefighters and volunteers. However, there were no witnesses, no clues and no suspect.
“We had been settled in Ganagobie for 18 months... I saw them having fun from the window”, Yannis’s mother, Pascaline Moré, told La Provence in 2016. “We give ourselves hope”, she added.
ICYMI: Toddler’s disappearance in France: ‘We are not losing hope’, says prefect
Wednesday 12 July 2023 23:00 , Eleanor Noyce
“We are not stopping the searches, we are not losing hope”, a prefect told reporters on Tuesday as the search for two-year-old Emile continues.
“As long as we have not located him, we are not losing hope.
“The searches did not bring the answers we expected. We have not located the child yet, but we continue searching and we remain on the ground and we are adapting our ways of searching for this investigation.”
‘They always do everything together’, close family member says of Emile’s family
Wednesday 12 July 2023 21:53 , Eleanor Noyce
A close family member has spoken of the close-knit family missing two-year-old Emile comes from.
“They always do everything together”, a close family member told La Provence, adding that Emile’s mother is the eldest of ten siblings.
“You know, when you have enough children to form two teams to play ball, there is no need to mix.”
Blood found on car ‘not human’, prosecutor says
Wednesday 12 July 2023 20:54 , Eleanor Noyce
The blood detected on the front of a car in Le Vernet, the French Alpine village where two-year-old Emile went missing on Saturday, was “not human blood but animal blood.”
“After analysis, it was not human blood but animal blood”, prosecutor Rémy Avon told La Provence.
Investigation to enter second phase from Thursday, police say
Wednesday 12 July 2023 18:57 , Eleanor Noyce
The investigation into the disappearance of two-year-old Emile will enter a second phase from Thursday, police have said.
Investigators will conduct an in-depth analysis of the “numerous elements” collected over the previous days, as prosecutor Rémy Avon noted that “the parents were not present at the time of the disappearance on Saturday.”
Blood detected on front of car in Le Vernet, police confirm
Wednesday 12 July 2023 17:43 , Eleanor Noyce
Blood has been detected on the front of a car in Le Vernet, the French Alpine village where a two-year-old boy went missing on Saturday.
“At the moment we don’t even know if it’s human blood”, MailOnline reported an investigative source as saying, noting that the traces have been transferred for scientific analysis to determine if they could be linked to missing Emile.
“It might be a very old trace too, so everybody is being very cautious about the find”, the source added.
Meanwhile, police confirmed that Emile’s parents home - in Bouilladisse - was searched on Monday, with one judicial source stating that “gendarmes were looking into the family’s background.”
Deadly plane crash, cafe murder and now missing toddler in the French village ‘cursed’ by tragedies
Wednesday 12 July 2023 17:24 , Eleanor Noyce
The French village of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has dominated headlines following the disappearance of a young boy this weekend.
Émile, aged two-and-a-half, was playing in the garden of his grandparent’s house when he vanished on Saturday afternoon. A desperate hunt –involving helicopters, drones, and sniffer dogs – has been taking place to try and find the missing toddler.
A dedicated hotline number has received over 1,200 phone calls, but police still have “no clue” about Émile’s whereabouts as fears for his safety intensify on the fifth day since he went missing.
Read more:
Locals of ‘cursed’ French village where toddler vanished recall earlier tragedies
