Fears are growing that two-year-old Émile could have been kidnapped after he went missing three days ago while on holiday with his grandparents, with French police now declaring that ‘all hypotheses remain valid’ just a day after ruling out any suggestion that he was abducted.
After over 48 hours of intense searching around the hamlet of Le Vernet, authorities admitted that the boy ‘should have been found’ by now if he was in within the perimeter.
‘He is two-and-a-half years old, he was able to walk quite a distance. But, all the hunts we have done for the past two days should have allowed us to locate him,’ said Marc Chappuis, the police officer in charge of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence where Emile went missing on Saturday afternoon.
With regard to treating the disappearance as a kidnapping, Rémy Avon, the public prosecutor told the same press conference: ‘The criteria for using this procedure are not met,’ but added, ‘all the hypotheses remain valid, none is favored or excluded.’
‘We are committed to carrying out investigations on all levels,’ he confirmed.
Émile was playing in the garden of his grandparents’ home in the hamlet of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence on Saturday afternoon when he vanished
Volunteers take part in a search operation for two-and-a-half-year-old Emile who is reported missing
French gendarmes take part in a search operation for two-and-a-half-year-old Emile who is reporting missing
After two days, the two-year-old is still nowhere to be found after police carried out searches of the 20 or so houses in the small Alpine hamlet surrounded by forest.
As fears grow, the public prosecutor stressed that as of yet ‘no element characterises a criminal offense likely to be at the origin of this disappearance.’
‘From the moment there is no offence, there is no person implicated,’ he repeated.
Mr Chappuis confirmed at the press conference that the search system was to be adapted for Tuesday to be ‘more targeted’.
Police had already expanded the 5km search area on Monday after finding no signs of the boy’s disappearance. A helicopter, thermic camera drones, and sniffer dogs were all brought in to help.
‘We remain present on the ground,’ Mr Chappuis said. ‘We deploy specialised means in search of traces and clues and we respond to the needs of the judicial investigation.’
Mr Avon also confirmed despite witnesses coming forward, no new element ‘likely to be able to explain the disappearance of little Émile’ has so far been brought forward.
‘These investigations will continue tomorrow (Tuesday) according to a somewhat diversified course, in particular by the search for localised clues,’ he added.
Émile was playing in the garden of his grandparents’ home in the hamlet of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence on Saturday afternoon when he vanished.
A group of gendarmes are looking for little two-year-old Emile in a steep area just outside Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
French gendarmes are briefed before taking part in a search operation for two-and-a-half-year-old Emile
A French gendarme takes part in a search operation for two-and-a-half-year-old Emile who is reported missing for two days
Volunteers are looking for Émile who was playing in the garden of his grandparents’ house in a hamlet just outside Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence between Grenoble and Nice when he vanished
French police are engaged in an extensive air and land search for a missing two-year-old boy who disappeared from a village in the south of the country at the weekend
The family was getting ready to leave the house they were staying in when Émile took advantage of the inattention, officials said. His grandparents came to put him in the car and found that he had gone.
The grandparents then alerted the authorities of Émile’s disappearance at around 5.15pm [4.15pm BST] on Saturday, at which point family members, police, emergency service workers, and local villagers started the search for the boy.
François Balique, the mayor of Le Vernet, told French television yesterday that the boy was a good walker for his age.
‘It’s a small village with 20 or so houses … we see everything. He could have gone some distance and perhaps got lost or was hiding,’ he said
The area around Le Vernet is surrounded by forest is popular with hikers.
A group of gendarmes goes on a hunt in search of little Emile. French police are engaged in an extensive air and land search for the missing two-year-old boy
The initial 5km search area for the Émile has today been extended with a helicopter, thermic camera drones, and sniffer dogs all brought in to help
Emile was last seen playing in the garden at his grandparents’ house on July 8 as people now search for him
Volunteers take part in a search operation for two-and-a-half-year-old Emile who is reported missing for two days
Émile, who is originally from Bouches-du-Rhône near Marseille, was spotted by two people as he left his grandparents’ home. However, they then said they ‘lost sight of him’.
Police have so far carried out a search of all houses in the village, and have called upon anyone with any information to come forward.
Releasing a photo and description of a child to social media and broadcasters, officials said he had brown eyes, blond hair, and is 90cm (almost 3ft) tall.
They said he was wearing a yellow top, white shorts with a green pattern, and hiking shoes at the time of his disappearance.
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