Found Deceased France - Émile S., 2, outside grandparent’s house, Le Vernet, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, 8 July 2023

[kittythehare]

Would this be consistent with him actually died somewhere else and wildlife had move it? I would imagine it being quite easy for a large bird of prey to grab his little body and take it who knows where.

It looks that way at the moment but they intend conducting a mega forensic screening and a search of the entire area, presumably to try finding the remaining bones.
Again if he was moved by wildlife, it could be back ton square 1 again..search wise.

 

[Alyce]

a key investigating source said Émile’s remains were found in countryside, some two miles away from the hamlet,

Francois Balique ( its Mayor ) said they were discovered within its boundaries -
found ‘on a path between the Church and Chapel’ of the village,

Mr Balique said
the area where Émile’s skull and bones were found had previously ‘been thoroughly searched by gendarmes,’

‘It’s unlikely animals would bring human remains back into the village where someone went missing,’ he said.

‘This leads to the theory that a person has brought Émile’s remains back, and potentially very recently,’ the source added.

Remains belonging to missing French boy found in the Alps

Ramblers discovered the bones of two-year-old Émile Soleil close to the isolated family home from here he went missing last year.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Lexiintoronto]

I mentioned this here before that we had a missing 3 year old here. She went missing close to a forested area. Despite a flood of searchers and K9s looking, hours were going by, there was no sign of her and the temperature was dropping fast.

Her mother told one searcher with a K9 that the girl liked to climb. Searchers were travelling down from her last known location, which is the general way children walk when off on their own.

He decided to climb up a difficult to traverse, brushy embankment. The dog eventually found her safe up there. I think that embankment would have become part of the gridded-off search area at some point, but it just goes to show that missing little children can do what seems to be impossible for them and hard for us adults to imagine. This little girl also stayed quiet despite people calling her name.

I think little Émile wandered fast. A lack of water, dropping temperatures and issues with terrain may have made him take shelter making him difficult to spot, and he passed away.

It wasn’t for lack of trying that he wasn’t found but I imagine there’s so much regret involved here. It’s a small mercy that his remains were found.

Thank you to everyone on the thread who posted about search. Without your translations and foreign story links and summaries I wouldn’t have been able to follow this tragic case.

ETA: Foul play may have been involved, the above is just my theory.

 

[SouthAussie]

RSBM

Mr Balique said
the area where Émile’s skull and bones were found had previously ‘been thoroughly searched by gendarmes,’

What sometimes, I think, happens is that these little lost children are moving around. They may lay down and rest/nap, be missed by the searchers, and when the child gets up, they move around.

We had a little lost boy, AJ Elfalak, who was found in a previously searched area - 500m from where he vanished.
He was luckily found 3 days after he went missing due to a helicopter searcher seeing a slight movement below (AJ was drinking from a puddle in dense bushland).

AJ's story:
He said the boy was found in an area that had previously been searched.
"We have searched that area head to toe," he said.
"He's got some nappy rash, he's been bitten by ants, he's fallen over — but he's alive," he said.

'Little survivor': The moment missing boy AJ is spotted drinking from a creek

Family members hug and weep for joy as a rescue chopper spots missing three-year-old Anthony 'AJ' Elfalak sitting in a deep gully drinking muddy water from a creek.

www.abc.net.au

 

[Megsc]

animals could have moved him.. shame there are only partial remains..

Yes I guess. It's either animals or a person.
They say it's not related to the "scenario" that took place on the last days, but I still think it's a weird coincidence that he was found a few days after.
Maybe the person who hurt him got scared after seeing everything that was going on, or even had remorse who knows, so he decided to leave Émile's remains somewhere he would be easily found?

 

[*LD*]

Since the area was searched and is a commonly used path, what if someone recently put the bones in that location hoping they would be found before Thursday's reenactment? Then they wouldn't need to do the reenactment and undergo more questioning if remains were found. . .

 

[Megsc]

This account and many other french informations accounts state that the hikker who found Emile took his skull in her hands and went to the gendarmery with it ?????
I think it was said on the channel BMFTV but I don't watch this one.
I don't know if it's true, but if it is, that's a weird reaction !! Who takes a human skull with hands ?Don't you call police immediatly ?

 

[kittythehare]

Yes I guess. It's either animals or a person.
They say it's not related to the "scenario" that took place on the last days, but I still think it's a weird coincidence that he was found a few days after.
Maybe the person who hurt him got scared after seeing everything that was going on, or even had remorse who knows, so he decided to leave Émile's remains somewhere he would be easily found?

but he didn't put them where they would be easily found.. only a couple were found, the majority are missing.

Forensic testing will describe the conditions endured by the partial skeletal remains and will date those conditions and detect whether a change occurred at some stage and when that was..
For example if the bones had been immersed in water or damp swampy conditions, analysis will find that and possibly even pinpoint the exact terrain or very close .

If foul play had occurred, the last thing a perp would do is place the bones where they would be found.. they would put them so far away or destroy them by fire or chemicals to evade detection, I think..

My gut is that it is misadventure but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it turns out to be something far more sinister..

I think it will take quite a while before we obtain concrete information..

I was so hoping he was alive and happy and being cared for by somebody kind and nice.. even though I know the odds are totally stacked against that happening ever ib any case anywhere..

 

[kittythehare]

View attachment 494039
This account and many other french informations accounts state that the hikker who found Emile took his skull in her hands and went to the gendarmery with it ?????
I think it was said on the channel BMFTV but I don't watch this one.
I don't know if it's true, but if it is, that's a weird reaction !! Who takes a human skull with hands ?Don't you call police immediatly ?

well you wouldn't be sure it was human to begin with.. if it was a stranger he or she would be reluctant to leave it back until police came.. may not have known how to contact them etc.. just guessing..

It was exposed to the elements in any case..not sure it matters too much..

 

[Megsc]

well you wouldn't be sure it was human to begin with.. if it was a stranger he or she would be reluctant to leave it back until police came.. may not have known how to contact them etc.. just guessing..

It was exposed to the elements in any case..not sure it matters too much..

But the human skull has a specific form, different from other species that live in the area I would think.
Obviously it wasn't a big problem since they were still able to identify him but still !! Such a weird thing to do imo

 

[Megsc]

Since the area was searched and is a commonly used path, what if someone recently put the bones in that location hoping they would be found before Thursday's reenactment? Then they wouldn't need to do the reenactment and undergo more questioning if remains were found. . .

Interesting theory

 

[kittythehare]

But the human skull has a specific form, different from other species that live in the area I would think.
Obviously it wasn't a big problem since they were still able to identify him but still !! Such a weird thing to do imo

everyone is not a websleuther though and wouldn't necessarily recognise the significance of leaving a terrain intact..
People do bring things to the police a lot..
I'm smiling as I type.. and hoping the finder is not reading this.. whoever it is, they found him.. and huge respect to them for that.
I'm surprised they got the dNA so quickly, must be using rapid DNA testing..?

Now they will probably have to conduct a massive fingertip search of a vast area..
his poor family must be devastated..

 

[renarde]

It would therefore be in this particularly steep area, rightly called the Auches ravine, that Émile's skull would have been discovered on Saturday by a hiker, herself a resident of Haut-Vernet, according to the mayor. You can get there by going down from the hamlet.
“It’s one of the worst things we can face”
Back in Le Vernet, we meet the mayor, François Balique, passing through the town hall to issue an order prohibiting access to Haut-Vernet for several days, so that the gendarmes and residents are not disturbed.

“This discovery of Émile is a new ordeal for everyone. People are really suffering from this story here. First, there was this disappearance, these incessant searches. This week's reconstruction has rekindled the wounds. And then death... A 2 and a half year old child who dies in his town, for a mayor, it is among the worst things we can face. My thoughts are with Émile’s family. I can't help but believe that an adult is involved in this matter. Émile would never have gone alone to where he was found. »

Concerning the area where the child's skull was discovered, the councilor struggles to understand: “There are people who regularly pass on the path nearby, I passed there last week. The volunteers have been there, I’m sure. I was there during the searches. And the gendarmes couldn't have missed him with the dogs... There was even some logging this fall. The loggers didn't see anything either. It's incomprehensible. »

« Émile ne serait jamais allé seul là où on l’a retrouvé » : au Vernet, la consternation et les doutes

La terrible nouvelle a saisi les habitants du hameau des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence dimanche. Tous s’étonnent de la découverte du crâne dans un

www.leparisien.fr

 

[Sjöberg]

a key investigating source said Émile’s remains were found in countryside, some two miles away from the hamlet,

Francois Balique ( its Mayor ) said they were discovered within its boundaries -
found ‘on a path between the Church and Chapel’ of the village,

Mr Balique said
the area where Émile’s skull and bones were found had previously ‘been thoroughly searched by gendarmes,’

‘It’s unlikely animals would bring human remains back into the village where someone went missing,’ he said.

‘This leads to the theory that a person has brought Émile’s remains back, and potentially very recently,’ the source added.

I must say, I don't like the sound of that. Frustrating, just how very... symbolic. Found between the church and the chapel, of all places. Is this a miracle?

I do think that the kid walking away and wildlife moving his bones is the no 1 theory here, don't get me wrong.
Just annoyed by the fact that pretty much just the skull was found, at a previously searched location, that is en route to the religious point in the area... I must admit, with a different family backstory I would not read too much into it, but like any other location in the village and outside the family home would look less sus, tbh. But here we have previous court cases of at least 2 family members and all the mess to untangle, so it kinda sticks out.

I just hope the skull can tell the story of the kid, so that people are not left wondering forever.

 

[Skigh]

Remains of Émile Soleil found as little as 380ft from grandparents'

The remains belonging to two-year-old Émile Soleil who vanished without a trace eight months ago were found as little as 380 ft from his grandparents' house.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Megsc]

I must say, I don't like the sound of that. Frustrating, just how very... symbolic. Found between the church and the chapel, of all places. Is this a miracle?

I do think that the kid walking away and wildlife moving his bones is the no 1 theory here, don't get me wrong.
Just annoyed by the fact that pretty much just the skull was found, at a previously searched location, that is en route to the religious point in the area... I must admit, with a different family backstory I would not read too much into it, but like any other location in the village and outside the family home would look less sus, tbh. But here we have previous court cases of at least 2 family members and all the mess to untangle, so it kinda sticks out.

I just hope the skull can tell the story of the kid, so that people are not left wondering forever.

AND he was found on easter weekend, which also has a big religious connotation.
Everything's so sketchy

 

[Sjöberg]

AND he was found on easter weekend, which also has a big religious connotation.

Yeah, it's like literally the holiday of the resurrection of Christ. You can't really get any more symbolic than that.
I do hope it's a coincidence and he just walked off. The question is, where did he die and where was the body during searches - there are logical options, I'm sure, maybe not excellent, but plausible. In the same breath, I am still worried about all the things a skull alone cannot say.

EDIT: this is a coincidence for sure, but just raising my eyebrows even more:
near the Saint-Pancrace chapel, Saint-Pancrace being the Patron Saint of children who died as a martyr at the age of 14 in 304. ..It was in this chapel that a mass was said for Émile on July 12, 4 days after his disappearance. (link)

 

[amaraya]

Could a two year old walk that far without food or water?

Not for nothing but i live a few hours away and kids here are use to long long walks with their families on sundays and long walks regardless of weather with preschool so it seems long but feasible, i just don't understand why. Which is why i wonder if he didn't get injured or stuck (or worse) instead of just going back.

So heartbreaking. But hoping there is no "bad guy" cuz i may lose my faith in humanity after all the cases lately

 

[Alyce]

Could a two year old walk that far without food or water?

Latest news, see Skigh’s post #856, is that he was found approx 115 metres from the grandfather's house.

 

[Vaderman]

What sometimes, I think, happens is that these little lost children are moving around. They may lay down and rest/nap, be missed by the searchers, and when the child gets up, they move around.

That's a great point, SouthAussie. I'd never even thought about it from that angle.