Police have disclosed what might have happened in the devastating case of Émile Soleil, a two-year-old boy whose remains were found months after he vanished from his grandparents' village in the French Alps.
Soleil went missing in Haut-Vernet on July 8, 2023, a tiny mountain village near the Massif des Trois-Évêchés. He was last seen walking alone down the only street in the village, near his grandparents’ home.
“The family was getting ready to leave the house to go on an outing. He took advantage of this fleeting moment [of inattention] to leave,' local mayor Francois Balique said, per The Guardian. “His grandparents realised he was no longer there when they went to put him in the car.”
A massive search followed, spanning five days and involving police, soldiers, helicopters, and sniffer dogs. They scoured 97 hectares, 30 buildings, and 12 vehicles. Even Émile’s mother’s voice was blasted from a helicopter to try and draw him out. Still, no trace was found.
Authorities stopped the large-scale search on July 13 to review the growing volume of data, and hopes of finding the little boy alive began to fade, The Telegraph reported.
On what would have been his third birthday that November, his mother made a desperate public appeal. If her son was dead, she pleaded that she still wanted his body returned so it could be buried. That heartbreak would become a reality months later.
On March 30, 2024, a woman hiking near Haut-Vernet stumbled upon a human skull and handed it in to a nearby police station. Police confirmed the remains belonged to Émile the next day through DNA testing.
Mayor Balique reflected on the tragedy: “It will take a long time to recover from this disappearance and death," cited by BBC News. "Is that where he disappeared? Is that where he took his last breath, nobody knows. In any case, I have no idea, but the judicial inquiry will no doubt be able to find that out."
Émile’s parents also issued a heartbreaking statement, which read: “This heart-breaking news was feared, and the time has come for mourning, contemplation and prayer.”
On April 2, 2024, police returned to the area and found the toddler's t-shirt, pants, and shoes, but they were spread out, and discovered at some distance from the remains.
Jean-Luc Blachon, the prosecutor leading the investigation, said: “We cannot be sure Emile's body was already present in the search area,” adding that “every square metre” had been searched before, and noting that dense undergrowth and summer heat may have affected the dogs’ ability to locate him initially.
Investigators believe Émile's body was not left in the forest to decompose. At a March 27, 2024, press conference, Blachon explained: “Expert investigations are suggesting the probability of the involvement of a third party in the disappearance and death of Emile Soleil,” per ConnexionFrance.
He said that analysis of the "clothes and bones" found by the hiker show they "were transported and placed there shortly before their discovery." That’s led to suspicions of deliberate concealment.
"[The Investigations] allow us to consider the hypothesis that the body did not remain in the same place…during the decomposition process and that it was not buried," Blachon said.
Even more disturbingly, the boy’s face showed signs of “violent facial trauma,” further supporting the belief that someone else was involved in both his disappearance and death.
According to Daily Mail, investigators believe Émile's remains may have been stored in a “freezer" before being moved and found.
On March 25, 2025, Émile’s grandparents, Philippe and Anne Vedovini, along with two of their adult children, were detained by police, per Sky News.
The grandparents, both 59, were arrested on suspicion of voluntary homicide and concealment of a corpse. Neither of those arrested were Émile’s parents.
Two days later, the grandparents were released without charge. Their legal representatives described it as “a relief.”
The late boy's funeral was held at the Basilica of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine earlier this year and was attended by his parents, siblings, including a baby born after his disappearance, and hundreds of mourners from across France.