Remains belonging to French boy Émile Soleil who vanished eight months ago found in the Alps

31 March 2024, 14:05 | Updated: 31 March 2024, 14:14

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

The remains of missing French boy Émile Soleil who vanished eight months ago have been found in the Alps.

Passersby found the bones of Émile, two, close to where the young boy suddenly went missing last year.

Investigators had been unsure about what had happened to him.

An investigation into his disappearance was launched last July after he went missing from the village of Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.

According to police, "genetic analysis indentified" Émile's bones.

They said "additional research" will now take place in the area where he was found.

Read More: Missing French boy Emile may have been ‘hit by combine harvester while walking in long grass,’ police fear

Read More: Search for Emile to end: French police to stop hunting for boy missing from ‘cursed’ hamlet but will 'evaluate evidence'

At the time he went missing, police ruled out a wild animal attack after searches of houses in the village did not lead to any discovery.

Police also investigated the possibility that he may have been hit by an agricultural machine while walking in long grass.

Residents of the village began describing it as ‘cursed’ after a series of tragedies.

In March 2015 150 people died in a plane crash near the hamlet, and fifteen years ago the village cafe manager was murdered by a customer.

One resident said: “Vernet feels like a village of the damned.”