Missing French toddler – latest: ‘Only hope is Emile has been taken and is alive,’ Le Vernet mayor says

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

Toddler's disappearance in France: 'We are not losing hope', says prefect

The mayor of Le Vernet has said “our only hope is Emile has been taken and is alive” in a new interview, as the whereabouts of the French toddler who went missing last Saturday remain unknown.

Francois Balique spoke to French newspaper Le Figaro about possible explanations for the two-year-old boy’s disappearance from his grandparents’ home in the Alpine village over the weekend.

Mr Balique said: “Our only hope now is that he’s been taken and is alive. It’s the last thing we can hope for and it’s already terrible. We could conceive that someone wanting a child passed by the area, saw this beautiful little boy and took him away. He couldn’t survive alone in the wild, that’s for sure.”

The physical search for Emile was called off yesterday, as law enforcement officials shift the focus of their investigation to sifting through evidence that’s been collected so far.

Local prosecutor Remy Avon said: “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.”

Key Points

• Search for missing two-year-old Emile called off
• Airborne search teams broadcasting recording of toddler’s mother ‘as loud as possible’
• 'We are not losing hope', says prefect
• Final searches for missing Emile end
• Le Vernet expected to remain closed over the weekend

[13 July 2023 11:00 · Maanya Sachdeva]

ICYMI: Blood found on vehicle in search for Emile ‘not human’

Last evening, it was reported that a vehicle with blood on it had been found amid the ongoing search for missing French toddler Emile, who disappeared from his grandparents’ home in Le Vernet last Saturday.

In a statement to La Provence, local prosecutor Rémy Avon said analysis had revealed the sample “was not himan blood but animal blood”.

Emile has now been missing for over five days, as investigators admitted they have “no clue” what happened to the boy.

[13 July 2023 10:00 · Maanya Sachdeva]

In pictures: The search for Emile

Emile has now been missing for over 96 hours, after he vanished from his grandparents’ property in Haut-Vernet on Saturday.

Here are some pictures from the quaint village in the south of France, where an extensive search for Emile was underway before it was called off on Wednesday:

French gendarmes take part in a search operation for two-and-a-half-year-old Emile who is now reported missing for over five days (AFP via Getty Images)

Volunteers take part in a search operation for two-and-a-half-year-old Emile who is reported missing for two days, on 10 July (AFP via Getty Images)

French gendarmes are briefed before taking part in a search operation for two-and-a-half-year-old Emile who is reported missing for two days, on 10 July (AFP via Getty Images)

Nearly 500 volunteers joined the search teams looking for Emile, who disappeared from this grandparents’ home in Haut-Vernet on Saturday (AFP via Getty Images)

[13 July 2023 09:00 · Maanya Sachdeva]

‘Final plot of land to be searched in search for Emile’

According to local news reports, a final plot of land around Haut-Vernet will be combed through in the search for Emile on Thursday,

The operation could last until around 4pm, French channel BFMTV reported.

Earlier this morning, local prosecutor Rémy Avon said in a statement said the massive search for Emile had not yielded any clues in solving the mystery of his disappearance last weekend, on Saturday.

[13 July 2023 08:00 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

‘It reminds us of a lot of things’: Local mayor reflects as Emile remains missing

As the search continues for two-year-old Emile, a local mayor has reflected on the decades-old case of a three-year-old that went missing in Ganagobie, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in 1989.

“It reminds us of a lot of things. I sent a little message of support to the mayor of Vernet, François Balique”, Ganagobie mayor Sylvie Belmonte told La Provence, referencing the disappearance of 3-year-old Yannis Moré in May 1989.

“I was town clerk and I took part in the search to try to find little Yannis”, he added.

Yannis had disappeared whilst playing with his three brothers, prompting a search of one hundred gendarmes, soldiers, firefighters and volunteers. However, there were no witnesses, no clues and no suspect.

“We had been settled in Ganagobie for 18 months... I saw them having fun from the window”, Yannis’s mother, Pascaline Moré, told La Provence in 2016. “We give ourselves hope”, she added.

[13 July 2023 07:30 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

'They always do everything together’, close family member says of Emile’s family

A close family member has spoken of the close-knit family missing two-year-old Emile comes from.

“They always do everything together”, a close family member told La Provence, adding that Emile’s mother is the eldest of ten siblings.

“You know, when you have enough children to form two teams to play ball, there is no need to mix.”

[13 July 2023 07:00 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Locals describe Emile’s family as ‘religious’

Locals have described the family of missing French toddler Emile as “very quiet and pious” and “very religious”.

The two-year-old boy’s family “goes to mass and sings religious hymns in Latin”, residents told local network BFM DICI.

“They are very good people. A happy, carefree and problem-free family, very loving and very believing. It seems incredible, inconceivable”, said Therese, a resident of La Bouilladisse, where the toddler lives with his family.

[13 July 2023 06:30 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Desperate search for French toddler

A desperate search is underway for a toddler who vanished from a garden while on holiday with his grandparents in the south of France.

Two-year-old Emile, whose surname is unknown, was playing in the garden of a property in Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence on Saturday when he went missing.

His family was preparing to go out for the day when they noticed Emile had vanished, François Balique, the mayor of Le Vernet, told local media.

“He took advantage of this fleeting moment [of inattention] to leave,” he said of the boy’s disappearance. “His grandparents realised he was no longer there when they went to put him in the car.”

Matt Mathers reports.

[13 July 2023 06:05 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Toddler ‘can’t evaporate like that’, says resident

Jean-Marcel, a friend of the grandparents of the missing toddler, said the child could not have “evaporated” from the hamlet, which is used to seeing children playing freely in the street.

“On Saturday night I heard the news on the phone and said to myself that they will find the boy,” the man, a resident of Haut-Vernet, told local network BFM DICI.

“Then afterwards, when 24 hours, 48 ​​hours passed and you realize that a two-and-a-half-year-old can’t evaporate like that, it’s a big worry.”

[13 July 2023 05:35 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

Locals fear village where Emile went missing may be ‘cursed’

The French village of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has dominated headlines following the disappearance of a young boy this weekend.

Emile, aged two-and-a-half, was playing in the garden of his grandparent’s house when he vanished on Saturday afternoon.

While hope for Emile remains, this isn’t the first time the sleepy village has been rocked by heart-wrenching events.

Locals speaking to the media said they are worried their village may be “cursed” while recalling it was the site of a gruesome murder and a devastating plane crash that left 149 people dead.

More here.

[13 July 2023 05:03 · Alisha Rahaman Sarkar]

French authorities have ‘no clue’ about missing toddler

French police have reportedly admitted to searching through masses of public data after failing to find leads in the hunt for the missing two-year-old toddler.

Local prosecutor Remy Avon said the police “have no clue, no information, no element that can help us understand this disappearance”, according to The Mirror.

He stressed that there had been no progress made since the child’s disappearance. “We are at the same point as the day before yesterday after receiving the two testimonies,” Mr Avon said.

“We are really pushing the investigations on the ground as much as we can.”