Child was vacation at his grandparents when he disappeared in the Alps – he appeared dead in the same village 8 months later. Now grandparents are arrested for voluntary murder.
Philippe Vedovini and his wife, grandparents of Émile Soleil, as well as two of his children, were arrested on accusations of voluntary homicide and corpse concealment by investigators from the Section of the Marseille ‘Gendarmeria’
The magistrate said that these arrests “are part of a phase of verification and comparison of the elements and information collected during investigations carried out in recent months.”
“Researchers are also performing forensic operations in various locations From the country, ”added the prosecutor, who specified that“ a new communication will be made after the ongoing actions will be completed ”.
Grandparents lawyer Isabelle Colombani confirmed to AFP that her clients were placed in police custody.
“I have no comment to make, I just found out,” he said.
Émile, two and a half years old, disappeared on July 8, 2023, after reaching summer vacation to the maternal grandparents’ housein the village of Haut-Vernet, in the French Alps.
Initially, the investigators had only the testimony of two neighbors who claimed to have seen the child away, leaving home and walking alone through a slope street.
No hypothesis has been excludedAlthough from the outset the authorities have warned that it would be very difficult to find it alive in the event of an autonomous disappearance after the early days.
For nine months, the investigation produced nothing concrete, until the discovery, at the end of March 2024, by a walker, from the child, approximately.
The boy’s funeral was held on February 8 at the Basilica of Saint-Maximin-La-Sainte-Baume (Southeast), in the presence of the whole family.
On March 13, the presence of investigators in the village from Haut-Vernet rekindled the speculation.
