The case of the disappearance In a small alpine town in the summer of 2023 of the Little Emile, one nIño two years and half whose death shocked all France, He took a spectacular turn on Tuesday with the Police custody of four people, among them their two maternal grandparents.
This March 25, Philippe Vedovini and his wife, grandparents of Emile Soleil, as well as two of his adult children, they were arrested for volunteer homicide and body concealment By researchers from the Marseille Gendarmerie, In southeastern France, prosecutor Jean-Luc Blanchon declared in a statement sent to the AFP agency.
The lawyer of the grandparents, Isabelle Colombani, He confirmed to the AFP that they were placed in police custody. “I have no comment to do. I just found out,” he said. The identity of the other two people detained, uncle or child’s aunt, It was not known immediately, but the investigation suddenly focused on the family circle
“These police detention measures are registered in a Verification and comparison phase of the elements and information collected during the investigations carried out in recent months, “added the magistrate in his statement.
“Researchers are also doing Forensic operations in diverse points of the country “, The prosecutor added, who said that “a new communication will be issued once the ongoing actions have been completed.”
Unsuccessful searches
Emile, two and a half years, disappeared on July 8, 2023, after arriving for the Summer holidays to the second residence of their maternal grandparents in the Haut-Vernet village, in the French Alps.
Despite several days of Citizen searches and “judicial sweeps”, no trace of the child had been found. For nine months, the investigation did not show anything concrete, until the discovery, at the end of March 2024, by a walker, ofl skull and the child’s teeth, approximately 1.7 km from the village, a 25 -minute walk for an adult.
On February 8, the child’s funeral was held according to the Rite of San Pío V, according to the wishes of Emilio’s parents and grandparents, fervent traditionalist Catholics, In the Basilica of Saint-Maximin-La-Sainte-Baume, near Marseille, in the presence of the whole family and several hundred people.
Found a bone and remains of clothing
On March 13, the presence of researchers In the village of Hout-Vernet He revived speculation. According to several media, the police seized a gardener placed at the entrance of a village chapel. The Prosecutor’s Office later refused to confirm it.
Instruction judges immediately deployed dozens of police officers, including specialists in Crime scene, anthropologists and two canine teams for the search for human remains. In the same area They could find clothes and a small piece of bone.
