Six months after two-and-a-half year-old Émile went missing from a hamlet in the French Alps, the investigation into his disappearance continues, shifting to a more technical approach, according to the Aix-en-Provence prosecutor’s office.
“The investigation is ongoing and has taken a more technical form, as ground investigation has not established why and how the child disappeared,” Aix-en-Provence Public Prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon told French news agency AFP.
Investigators are now tasked with analysing all collected elements, particularly extensive digital and phone data related to individuals in the area before and after Émile’s disappearance.
Little Emile was last seen on 8 July at approximately 5:15 p.m. by two neighbours with conflicting accounts. He had just arrived for summer holidays at his maternal grandparents’ second home in Haut-Vernet, a hamlet of 25 residents located 1,200 metres above sea level on the slopes of the Trois-Evêchés mountain range in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.
Homes across the hamlet and other linked locations have been searched, according to the prosecution.
“Almost 900 sightings have been processed or discarded” and “forensic operations systematically looking for any useful trace led to nearly 300 pieces of evidence being sealed,” said a source close to the investigation.
Initially opened as a case of alarming disappearance, the investigation was quickly assigned to two investigative judges and reclassified as criminal, with “kidnapping” and “incarceration” charges considered.
On the occasion of Émile’s third birthday, in late November, his parents, who were not in the area during his disappearance, published a plea in the weekly Christian Family magazine : “Tell us where Émile is.”
