After the discovery of little Emile’s body this Saturday, investigators are now trying to determine the origin of the little boy’s death. A track seems to hold the rope according to several sources.
Nine months after his disappearance, the bones of little Emile were discovered on Saturday March 30, 2024, near the hamlet of Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), the Aix-en-Provence prosecutor’s office announced this Sunday. It was a walker who discovered the skull to the south of the hamlet, “just like teeth” indicates Le Parisien. The identity of the little boy was quickly confirmed by the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN).
The investigators will “deploy means to undertake additional research in the geographical area where (the bones) were found” specifies the Aix-en-Provence prosecutor’s office. François Balique, mayor of Vernet, has banned access to people from outside the hamlet until next Sunday, April 7, at noon. A municipal decree taken this Sunday.
The hypothesis of a movement of bones deemed “credible”
Now, there are many gray areas. And in particular about the area in which the bones of the boy were discovered. Because according to the spokesperson for the national gendarmerie, Marie-Laure Pezant, the location of the discovery had already been searched several times during citizen raids in the summer of 2023. A version confirmed by the mayor of the town in the columns of Figaro, evoking a “well-excavated” area at the time.
This is why the path of movement of the body becomes thicker. And it is she who is favored by Jacques-Charles Fombonne, former commander of the national training center for the judicial police of the gendarmerie as explained to France Info: “This rather supports the hypothesis of a body which would have been moved and put precisely in this place, knowing that they say that we would not return there. Given the means that were used, we really searched, that means that the body moved” he assures. In addition, a simulation took place last Thursday, with 17 people out of the 25 in the hamlet.
A version which seems to hold the rope for the spokesperson of the gendarmerie, guest of BFMTV yesterday. She considers a potential displacement of the bones “credible”. If the investigators were able to “potentially not detect this presence (…) we must not forget that we could also have deposited the bones afterwards” she continues. “It could be human intervention, an animal that took it away or weather conditions that changed the configuration,” she concludes.
Around a hundred gendarmes on site and several avenues envisaged
“Only the examination of the body by the scientific police can disprove or confirm a hypothesis,” tempers Jaques-Charles Fombonne in the columns of France Info. If the discovery of small bones could be the result of animals or even bad weather according to him, he also highlights the “position of the bones in relation to each other” which should be a determining element of the investigation to lift the veil on this affair. “If you have the whole body with bones that are in an absolutely natural position, this rules out an accident,” he explains. “If the body is complete and the bones are in a natural position, it means that the child fell and, extraordinarily, he was not found. It can also mean that the body was placed there delicately without disrupting the arrangement of the bones,” he confides to France Info.
“If there were animals which intervened on the remains of the body, it will be known, of course” specifies Alain Vasquez, police commander at BFMTV. Since the announcement of the discovery, messages of support have multiplied and a support fund has been launched on the Facebook group “Let’s pray for Emile”. “This fund aims to show our support for Émile’s family. To help give him a beautiful funeral and to offer masses for his family,” she explains. Guest on LCI, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin expressed his “sadness” and took the opportunity to thank “the gendarmes”. According to information from BFMTV, around a hundred gendarmes are currently on site to try to collect new clues in the area already searched after Emile’s disappearance.