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

[Rikissa]

Here's an interview with a former French investigating judge, explaining the procedure of how the investigation is done in France. There are differences to how things are done compared to the UK and to the US.
Link is translated into English.

ENTRETIEN. Mort d’Emile : "Dans les histoires familiales, il y en a toujours un qui craque", pour l’ex-juge d’instruction et ex-procureur Jacques Dallest

Magistrat honoraire, ancien juge d’instruction et ex-procureur, Jacques Dallest décrypte les avancées de l’enquête et les gardes à vue des grands-parents du petit Emile, ce garçonnet disparu en juillet 2023, dans les...

www-ladepeche-fr.translate.goog

The police custody period have been extended by 24 hours for both the grandparents, as well as their two adult children.
Link is translated into English:

Mort du petit Émile : les quatre gardes à vue prolongées de 24 heures - ici

Les gardes à vue des grands-parents, d'un oncle et d'une tante du petit Émile Soleil, entendus depuis mardi pour "homicide volontaire" et "recel de cadavre" dans l'enquête sur la disparition du garçonnet en juillet 2023, ont été prolongées pour 24 heures, a appris franceinfo ce mercredi matin.

www-francebleu-fr.translate.goog

An article with some info about the aunt and uncle, both of them were under 18 when Emile disappeared:
Translation into English:

Affaire du petit Emile : De nouveaux détails émergent sur son oncle et sa tante qui restent aussi en garde à vue

Plus d’un mois après les obsèques du petit Emile, disparu en juillet 2023, l'enquête se poursuit. Ce mardi 25 mars 2025, quatre personnes ont été placées en garde à vue. Parmi elles, l'oncle et la tante du petit garçon, comme le précise "Le Parisien". Deux membres de la fratrie qui, jusqu'ici, étaie

www-purepeople-com.translate.goog

I'm at the moment in France, just a couple of hours from where this is going on.

 

[Skigh]

Here's an interview with a former French investigating judge, explaining the procedure of how the investigation is done in France. There are differences to how things are done compared to the UK and to the US.
Link is translated into English.

ENTRETIEN. Mort d’Emile : "Dans les histoires familiales, il y en a toujours un qui craque", pour l’ex-juge d’instruction et ex-procureur Jacques Dallest

Magistrat honoraire, ancien juge d’instruction et ex-procureur, Jacques Dallest décrypte les avancées de l’enquête et les gardes à vue des grands-parents du petit Emile, ce garçonnet disparu en juillet 2023, dans les...

www-ladepeche-fr.translate.goog

The police custody period have been extended by 24 hours for both the grandparents, as well as their two adult children.
Link is translated into English:

Mort du petit Émile : les quatre gardes à vue prolongées de 24 heures - ici

Les gardes à vue des grands-parents, d'un oncle et d'une tante du petit Émile Soleil, entendus depuis mardi pour "homicide volontaire" et "recel de cadavre" dans l'enquête sur la disparition du garçonnet en juillet 2023, ont été prolongées pour 24 heures, a appris franceinfo ce mercredi matin.

www-francebleu-fr.translate.goog

An article with some info about the aunt and uncle, both of them were under 18 when Emile disappeared:
Translation into English:

Affaire du petit Emile : De nouveaux détails émergent sur son oncle et sa tante qui restent aussi en garde à vue

Plus d’un mois après les obsèques du petit Emile, disparu en juillet 2023, l'enquête se poursuit. Ce mardi 25 mars 2025, quatre personnes ont été placées en garde à vue. Parmi elles, l'oncle et la tante du petit garçon, comme le précise "Le Parisien". Deux membres de la fratrie qui, jusqu'ici, étaie

www-purepeople-com.translate.goog

I'm at the moment in France, just a couple of hours from where this is going on.

Thank you for sharing articles with a translation.

 

[JennieM]

Police examine horse box seized from home.

“They have seized an SUV and a horse trailer.”

Grandparents arrested for suspected murder of French toddler Emile Soleil

Two-and-a-half year old Emile Soleil mysteriously vanished from a French alpine village in 2023, with his remains discovered nine months later.

home.nzcity.co.nz

Teen 'dragged out of bed' during arrest over little Emile's death

The development further adds to the mystery surrounding the family's possible involvement in two-year-old Emile's disappearance and death.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[dotr]

Grandparents arrested for suspected murder of French toddler

Two-and-a-half year old Emile Soleil mysteriously vanished from a French alpine village in 2023, with his remains discovered nine months later.

www.abc.net.au

''Police returned to the village earlier this month, sparking talk of a development in the case.
A large flowerpot with traces of blood was seized by the investigators in front of a local church, a source close to the case told AFP.''

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Mar 25, 2025 #TheSun #News
The grandparents of missing Émile Soleil have been arrested on suspicion of murder in a shocking twist.The two-year-old vanished two years ago while at his grandparent's holiday home in France.

 

[JennieM]

Emile Soleil murder suspect family’s Catholic priest 85 commits suicide days before toddler’s grandparents are arrested.

Emile Soleil murder suspect family's priest, 85, 'commits suicide'

Father Gilliot frequently expressed his emotional angst during the saga, and allegedly 'took his own life' last Saturday at his home in Aix-en-Provence, it emerged today.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[JennieM]

French police detained Philippe and Anne Vedovini, along with two of their adult children – Emile’s uncles or aunts, who were not named – for questioning on suspicion of intentional homicide and concealing a corpse.

The grandparents' lawyer, Isabelle Colombani, confirmed that they had been placed in police custody but had no further comment.

An officer stands outside the house of the grandparents of Emile Soleil in La Bouilladisse, southeastern France, on March 25, 2025. © Clement Mahoudeau, AFP

According to a press release from the Aix-en-Provence prosecutor, the arrests will allow investigators to verify, analyse and cross-examine evidence that had been gathered in the last few months.

The authorities also said that the forensic operations will be conducted at “various locations across the country” and that they will reveal more once the investigation is over.

'Little Emile': Grandparents detained over 2023 disappearance of French toddler

The mysterious case of a missing toddler from a rural village in the French Alps in July 2023 riveted France’s attention on Emile Soleil – or Little Emile, as he came to be known. The case took a surprising…

www.france24.com

 

[Badgerette]

Has anything been released as to why the police thought to spray the planter at the church with the "Bluestar" and look for blood there? It seems like a very calculated movement/discovery.

 

[UK Girl]

Has anything been released as to why the police thought to spray the planter at the church with the "Bluestar" and look for blood there? It seems like a very calculated movement/discovery.

At a guess the Priest put something in his suicide note

 

[Teche]

wonder why he killed himself, his despair might have been overwhelming, I am a (proudly) lapsed Catholic and suicide is considered a sin (correct me if I’m wrong)

I'm a practicing Catholic and graduated from a small all-girl Catholic school. I was never taught that suicide is a sin, although I’ve heard that from others. The nuns always stressed that ours is a loving God. I graduated in the early 70s.

 

[dotr]

Has anything been released as to why the police thought to spray the planter at the church with the "Bluestar" and look for blood there? It seems like a very calculated movement/discovery.

Wondering if the planter had marks or cracks consistent with those found on the recovered skull?
The flower on this little guy's ear, now seems particularly bitter sweet.
imo, speculation.

Death of Émile Soleil - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

'' Initial analyses of the skull, which is missing the maxilla and a tooth,show post-mortem cracks, bites and small fractures, probably of animal origin''

 

[Megsc]

Has anything been released as to why the police thought to spray the planter at the church with the "Bluestar" and look for blood there? It seems like a very calculated movement/discovery.

I've read somewhere that an anonymous letter told them they should check this particular planter (not able to find the article rn)

 

[Megsc]

Mort d'Emile : "il a été enterré dans...", l'hypothèse privilégiée par les enquêteurs fait froid dans le dos
"It is now considered that little Émile could have been buried in this planter."

 

[Megsc]

https://www.femmeactuelle.fr/actu/n...ourrait-faire-basculer-toute-lenquete-2189869

"The investigators went to the church to conduct further investigations because someone suggested they "go and find it," explained Laurent Valdiguié, a journalist at Marianne, on the set of C l'hebdo on Saturday, March 22, 2025."

 

[Lucy6226]

Mort d'Emile : "il a été enterré dans...", l'hypothèse privilégiée par les enquêteurs fait froid dans le dos
"It is now considered that little Émile could have been buried in this planter."

I did wonder about this. There is a serial killer in Canada (forget his name) that deposited his victims in his own planters and that of his customers if I remember correctly.

 

[Sarahlou]

I did wonder about this. There is a serial killer in Canada (forget his name) that deposited his victims in his own planters and that of his customers if I remember correctly.

Yep, Bruce McArthur.

 

[L'Eau_d'Hiver]

https://www.lamontagne.fr/vernet-04...on-n-a-pas-pu-disparaitre-tout-seul_14661673/

"First, analysis of little Émile's skull demonstrated that the bones had been found in two different locations: in nature, which makes sense considering the child's remains were found on a trail, but also in "an environment protected from the elements, almost sterile," according to Le Parisien. This means that the skull could have been hidden for several months before being placed at the site where it was discovered in March 2024. Another important element is that the analysis revealed "a lesion consistent with human intervention.
Furthermore, the examination of the little boy's t-shirt, discovered a few meters from the skull by the walker, provided another major clue: no trace of human decomposition was detected on the garment, which suggests that it would not have been in contact with the child's body, and therefore once again rules out the possibility of accidental death."

 

[HollyHunter9]

Not sure if anyone read this far down the daily mail article but it says the arrests come as a result of wire taps! I also read an article that said police received a letter to check the church and the planter...I wonder if that letter was by the priest who then later committed suicide. (JMO)


Enquiry sources have confirmed that the Vedovinis, who were looking after Émile when he went missing, were arrested following months of police wire taps.
Conversations between them and other family members were all secretly listened to, while enquiries were conducted around their lives.
Mr Vedovini is also under investigation in connection with an entirely different case relating to sex abuse at a Roman Catholic School in the 1990s.

Emile Soleil murder suspect family's priest, 85, 'commits suicide'

Father Gilliot frequently expressed his emotional angst during the saga, and allegedly 'took his own life' last Saturday at his home in Aix-en-Provence, it emerged today.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[UK Girl]

Not sure if anyone read this far down the daily mail article but it says the arrests come as a result of wire taps! I also read an article that said police received a letter to check the church and the planter...I wonder if that letter was by the priest who then later committed suicide. (JMO)


Enquiry sources have confirmed that the Vedovinis, who were looking after Émile when he went missing, were arrested following months of police wire taps.
Conversations between them and other family members were all secretly listened to, while enquiries were conducted around their lives.
Mr Vedovini is also under investigation in connection with an entirely different case relating to sex abuse at a Roman Catholic School in the 1990s.

Emile Soleil murder suspect family's priest, 85, 'commits suicide'

Father Gilliot frequently expressed his emotional angst during the saga, and allegedly 'took his own life' last Saturday at his home in Aix-en-Provence, it emerged today.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Imo yes it is from the Priest.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

From everything that is known now, I would be wondering if the priest actually did kill himself, or if someone else did it to shut him up.

 

[HollyHunter9]

From everything that is known now, I would be wondering if the priest actually did kill himself, or if someone else did it to shut him up.

I did think this too.