A hiker discovered the bones of little Émile, who disappeared in July 2023, near the hamlet of Haut-Vernet, Saturday March 30. Its discovery marks a turning point in the case.
The discovery by a hiker on Saturday March 30 of little Émile’s skull accelerated the investigation. Nearly nine months after the disappearance of the 2 and a half year old boy, investigators continue their work so that the causes of Emile’s disappearance and death can be discovered. Since Saturday, the gendarmes, looking for clues, have reinvested in Le Haut Vernet, a village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence where the little boy had disappeared at the end of the day on July 8, 2023.
While walking in a steep area, not far from Haut-Vernet, on rugged but accessible low mountain terrain that walkers use all year round, a hiker discovered a small skull. As the telephone network was not available and unable to notify the authorities, she chose to move the skull. By discovering the bones belonging to the child, she gave investigators a specific search area.
A behavior that questions
The hiker’s profile remains mysterious. During his press conference, the Aix-en-Provence prosecutor revealed that the hiker brought the skull home before entrusting it to the authorities. “Disturbed by her discovery”, she put the skull “in a plastic bag”, said the prosecutor. She then took the skull home and contacted the police. An action that raises questions among investigators. One of them told Figaro that “we would have preferred that she didn’t touch anything”. According to RTLwhich cites a source close to the investigation, nothing indicates at the moment that the hiker is suspected for any reason in the investigation.
Is the hiker a resident of Haut-Vernet? The information differs. Thus, according to Le Figaro, she is “a local” but for its part, RTL specifies that this woman does not live in Vernet or Haut-Vernet. Questioned by La Provence, the mayor of Vernet, François Balique confesses to having “no idea who it could be”. But, “she didn’t take the hiking trail in the logical direction that the locals know. So that’s why I think she doesn’t come from Vernet.”