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

[dotr]

'16 minutes ago
Hundreds of police officers, soldiers, and volunteers have led desperate efforts to locate the two-and-a-half-year-old, named Emile, who was last seen by neighbours leaving the family home alone on Saturday'

 

[OrangeCash]

Hoping this doesn't go unanswered for decades like Ben Needham
Ben Needham - Websleuths

Missing French boy’s dad has ‘very worrying profile’, country’s children minister says
Article from The Standard, very much a clickbait title. It's basically a former Family and Children's minister giving her opinion:

Claiming that Émile’s mother was not even spoken to by detectives for three days, Ms Royal tweeted: “The mother questioned only on Tuesday? And the father, with a very worrying profile?
“So, we did not look at the theory of a problem or family revenge? A kidnapping? Why is the kidnapping alert still not triggered? How sad.”


Prosecutors and judicial police working on the enquiry did not immediately respond to questions about the father’s ‘very worrying profile’.

But they confirmed they were exploiting phone technology to track the movements of residents in the hamlet.

I hope Police really are looking at all possibilities, even challenging the known facts like the last reported sighting - when was the last independent sighting of Émile before that? Exactly who woke him up from his nap? Was he with anyone outside or did he go outside on his own? There's loads more to confirm, I'm not pointing fingers, it just has to be absolutely concrete from the very centre and work your way outwards. But I understand how difficult it is for Police as well, needing every single thing done immediately, with limited time and resources. You can't do everything at once

MOO

 

[SouthAussie]

RSBM

Did no one stop to find out why this child was out alone and provide some care and supervision for him until police could arrive, or walk him back to his home?

Disparition d'Émile : que sait-on de la fouille d'un camping-car en lien avec l'enquête en Isère ?

Un signalement a entraîné la mobilisation d'une équipe pour faire une levée de doute en contrôlant un camping-car dans l'Isère.

www.ladepeche.fr

It is a question on everyone's mind, I think.
I have read that the two neighbours saw Emile and were not concerned.
I have seen quotes from village residents saying that kids always play on the street, ride bikes, etc. That it is a very free environment for the children.

I don't know if that means that the people who saw him were not concerned because children always play on the street, or if they were not concerned for some other (unknown) reason.

Eg:
"Jean-Marcel, a friend of Émile's family and resident of Vernet .... According to him, the village is used to seeing children playing freely in the streets, which explains why concern was not the first reaction of the hamlet."
"Living in Vernet "for 30 or 40 years", Jean-Marcel tells of "the freedom" that reigns in the town, "the country of the little ones"."

Disparition d'Émile: fin des opérations de recherches, aucun nouvel élément découvert

Près de quatre jours après la disparition d'Émile dans la commune du Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), le petit garçon de deux ans et demi reste introuvable. Lors des recherches ce mercredi, aucun nouvel élément n'a été découvert.

www.bfmtv.com

Jean-Marcel also told the reporter (in the article) that the family attended a service on Wednesday evening in the chapel of Haut-Vernet.

 

[bearbear]

wonder what a worrying profile means?

 

[dotr]

• 
• 13 Jul 2023
• 'Mum of missing boy, 2, posts haunting statement' before police call off search

''The mum of a toddler missing in France is believed to have posted a chilling statement on Facebook about the "devil" in the days after her little boy vanished.
Two-year-old Émile 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.


French police have admitted they're completely clueless as to the youngster's location and have even resorted to checking public phone data to see if any strangers were around at the time.''

 

[starlightstarbright]

<modsnip - sleuthing the family members who have not been named POI or suspect at this time and as such are victims and off limits>

And the Facebook post from his mom reads like a request for prayers to a ‘saint’ or religious mystic to almost bring Emile back? Does this sound right? This mystic was taken up the mountain and then brought back home. IIRC, they are a Catholic family, is this right? Just wanted to know if the original French has the same sort of context.

 

[JerseyWasHome2]

<modsnip - sleuthing the family members who have not been named POI or suspect at this time and as such are victims and off limits>

And the Facebook post from his mom reads like a request for prayers to a ‘saint’ or religious mystic to almost bring Emile back? Does this sound right? This mystic was taken up the mountain and then brought back home. IIRC, they are a Catholic family, is this right? Just wanted to know if the original French has the same sort of context.

Benoite Rencurel was a shepherdess from France who is said to have seen apparitions from the Virgin Mary from 1664-1718 per Wikipedia, so it sounds as if she is praying to her.

 

[dotr]

Benoite Rencurel was a shepherdess from France who is said to have seen apparitions from the Virgin Mary from 1664-1718 per Wikipedia, so it sounds as if she is praying to her.

Noting @ 00:50 ''That is a really pretty child, can we have him?"

Watch Our Lady of Laus Online | Vimeo On Demand

Journey with Bob and Penny hight up into the Alps mountains to Laus, France and the remarkable Shrine of Our Lady of Laus. This is the first Apparition of Our Lady…

vimeo.com

Genres: Documentary

 

[renarde]

Last search effort ended at 4 p.m. today. About 50 gendarmes focused on the road between Haut-Vernet and Vernet (1.8 km).

Cette opération, menée par une cinquantaine de gendarmes mobiles de Gap, ciblait concrètement "les 1,8 km de route entre le hameau du Haut-Vernet et le village du Vernet, ainsi qu'une bande d'environ 10 m de chaque côté de cette voie", a précisé le procureur de la République de Digne-les-Bains, Rémy Avon.

DIRECT. Disparition du petit Emile : le dernier ratissage autour du Haut-Vernet a pris fin à 16 heures

C'est dans ce hameau que le garçonnet de 2 ans et demi s'est volatilisé il y a presque une semaine. Au total, 97 hectares ont fait l'objet d'un ratissage, selon le procureur de la République.

www.francetvinfo.fr

 

[ReadySet]

I hope there is a good outcome for this little one. It is not looking good though.
Ironic for me because Deorr Kunz Jr., also age 2, disappeared in Idaho almost eight years to the day as Emile. That means nothing except as a sad coincidence in my reading. In his case, parents were named suspects.

This case has made me think about other cases where little ones do genuinely wander off, if that's the case. I think one of the most dangerous times is when you have a family gathering or a lot of adults around. It's assumed that someone will be watching the child because there are so many people around. "I thought you were watching them." You must always designate who is watching the kids, then specifically hand off to someone else if you are not going to continue to supervise. It's tempting to not do this, because it's such a nice feeling to think, "We're all here together taking care of our children." But little ones, especially two year olds, don't act that way. You do have to keep an eye on them every second.

It sounds like this was an area where people felt safe to let their kid wander, assuming that everyone else was safe.
Two year olds are different. You cannot do free range parenting with them (or even older kids up to a certain age.)
I don't know if that's what happened here. I just know that there is case after case where adults assumed that the child was being supervised by someone else.

 

[kittythehare]

I've been following with bated breath on MSM
really very worried now.
I canot imagine what has happened, search appeared very thorough.

 

[kittythehare]

Benoite Rencurel was a shepherdess from France who is said to have seen apparitions from the Virgin Mary from 1664-1718 per Wikipedia, so it sounds as if she is praying to her.

That seems like a perfectly reasonable aspiration.
Nothing at all strange about it.
People pray to their favourite saints and blesseds.
The poor woman must be utterly frantic.

I can't even imagine the pain they are in. such a lovely child.

 

[LadyL]

no sign of him ...

are there any bodies of water around?

 

[Stunned]

no sign of him ...

are there any bodies of water around?

I think they mentioned streams and such.

 

[19thcenturynovel]

I believe the River Ariege runs along the west edge of the town. A moderately wide river, not sure what the flow is this time of year though.

 

[dotr]

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Is formal searching by the authorities continuing at all or it's completely over now?

How about informal searching by other knowledgeable search teams?

Or at least organized volunteers?

 

[kittythehare]

Despite having just a handful of inhabitants, Le Haut Vernet has been the site of several tragedies, with locals calling it a “village of the damned”. More than a hundred people were killed in a plane crash eight years ago

Search called off for French boy lost in 'village of the damned'

Emile disappeared in tiny village of Le Haut Vernet in the French Alps on Saturday afternoon

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[kittythehare]

"It's a model family with old-fashioned virtues"

A friend of the grandparents of Émile, a two-and-a-half-year-old child who has been missing since Saturday in Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), testifies on BFMTV

https://twitter.com/x/status/1679209494553718785

 

[SouthAussie]

Is formal searching by the authorities continuing at all or it's completely over now?

How about informal searching by other knowledgeable search teams?

Or at least organized volunteers?

This article says that the authorities will only be searching where they have a reason to search, as they sift through all of the information they have gathered.
It also says that the village will likely remain closed over the weekend.
I have not seen anything yet about any independent searches that may be done by others.


"With 97 hectares swept across three days, the search will not resume tomorrow unless the investigation uncovers any significant leads that necessitate it."

“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.”

"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."

‘Only hope for missing toddler Emile is he’s been taken,’ mayor says

With 97 hectares swept across three days, the physical search will not resume tomorrow

www.independent.co.uk