Emile Soleil: Remains of two-year-old who disappeared nine months ago found in French Alps

The remains of a two-and-a-half year old boy who went missing in a tiny French village have been found and identified.

Émile Soleil was last seen on 8 July, 2023, wandering alone in Le Vernet, a village in the French Alps 1,200 metres above sea level. The toddler had been staying with his grandparents for the summer holidays, local media report, and his disappearance sparked a major police operation - amid fears he might have been abducted.

But on Saturday (30 March), public prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon in Aix-en-Provence told France 24 police were informed bones had been discovered near Le Vernet. They carried out genetic testing, which allowed them "to conclude on Sunday that they were the bones of the child Emile".

Prosecutors were yet to share whether his cause of death was known. But Mr Blanchon said that forensic investigators were continuing to analyse the young boy's remains. "The police [are] deploying means to carry out additional searches in the area where they were found," he added.

Le Vernet's mayor, Francois Balique, had previously speculated that Emile had been kidnapped, the Independent reports. "When we see that we have not found Emile in the town, it means that he has necessarily been moved. It cannot be otherwise. [He] could only have been moved by adults, by one or more adults. Either we are dealing with a madman, or we are dealing with someone Machiavellian."

He told interviewers that every home in the village had been searched, and that local police had ruled out an animal attack. "He couldn’t survive alone in the wild, that’s for sure," Mr Balique added.