The grandparents of a toddler who vanished in the French Alps have been released from custody after being arrested on suspicion of hismurder.
Two-year-old Émile Soleil had been staying with his maternal grandparents in their Alpine home in Haut-Vernet when he disappeared in July 2023.
In a dawn raid on Tuesday, police searched a home in the Provence village of La Bouilladisse and the hamlet of Haut-Vernet and arrested Émile’S maternal grandparents and two of their adult children on suspicion of “voluntary homicide” and “concealing a corpse”, French media reported.
Police did not immediately say who the two other family members were, but Le Parisien reports they were two of Émile’s uncles or aunts.
But the grandparents and the two other relatives were then released from the Marseilles police station without charge after 48 hours of interrogation.
The grandparents were seen by Le Parisien reporters returning to their home in La Bouilladisse quickly followed by Émile’s parents.
“After 17 hours of questioning today, police custody has been lifted,” Isabelle Colombani, a lawyer for the grandfather told the press gathered outside the property.
“There may have been some grey areas to clear up, but there you have it,” she added. “Investigators have had a lot of questions for us since yesterday. We have answered all of them.”
A horse trailer and a car, belonging to the grandfather, seen being taken away for forensic investigations will now be returned to the property.
It came as prosecutors told a press conference the anatomical scars on the skull are “suggestive of violent facial trauma”.
Jean-Luc Blachon added: “The expert reports suggest the likelihood of third-party involvement in the disappearance and death of Emile Soleil.
“The bones were transported and deposited shortly before their discovery. They also allow us to confirm that the child’s body did not decompose in the clothes found in the forest.”
In an update, investigators said they have so far conducted 287 witness interviews, combed through 285 hectares, analysed 27 vehicles and processed 55 million bytes of data, mainly through phone tapping.
Two neighbours last saw Émile walking along the street by himself, according to Le Monde. Despite a massive effort from volunteers, police, the military and sniffer dogs, he was not found until a hiker stumbled across the toddler’s skull and clothing in March 2024, less than 2 kilometres from his grandparents’ home.
According to Valentin Doyen, a journalist specialising in the case, the child’s family do not believe it was a solo accident. Speaking on BFMTV, the reporter stated that Emile was afraid of the tall grass and was afraid to venture out alone.
When Émile’s funeral was finally held in February this year, his grandparents Philippe and Anne Vedovini, made a rare public statement about his disappearance and death.
“The time for silence must give way to the truth,” they said at the time, adding: “Nineteen months without the slightest certainty. We need to understand, we need to know.”
