Remains of two-year-old boy missing for eight months discovered by ramblers
31.03.2024 - 15:09
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
The body of a toddler who disappeared eight months ago has been found by walkers in the French Alps. A statement released by public prosecutors in Aix-en-Provence today said ‘genetic analysis identifies’ the bones as belonging to two-year-old Èmile Soleil.
His remains were discovered close to the isolated family home from where he went missing in July last year. The macabre discovery on Saturday was today described as a key breakthrough in a criminal enquiry that has baffled detectives.
Public prosecutors added ‘criminalistic analysis’ was also under way, and gendarmes were carrying out ‘additional research’ in the area where they were found. The search site is two miles as the crow flies from the house in Haut-Vernet, a hamlet south of Grenoble, where Émile was last seen with his grandfather, Philippe Vedovini, 58.
There had been no trace of Émile since, with investigators refusing to rule out any theory for the tragedy, including abduction and murder. Émile was officially in the care of Mr Vedovini on the day of his disappearance, as his parents took a break.
The Mirror reports witnesses saw Mr Vedovini, a physiotherapist-osteopath, cutting wood outside his house around the time Émile is thought to have wandered off. There was no immediate comment about the discovery of the bones from Émile’s family, who were all at Easter Sunday mass when told.
Mr Vedovini is a devout Catholic who gave up a vocation to become a monk, in order to marry his wife, Anne Vedovini. They brought up 10 children, including Émile’s mother, who is now known by her married name of Marie Soleil after she married Émile’s father, Colomban Soleil, 26.
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