Clothing and shoes belonging to the French toddler who mysteriously vanished in the French Alps have been found close to where his partial remains were discovered.
Today public prosecutor Jean-Luc Blanchon confirmed police had located Émile’s t-shirt, pants and shoes, which were “not gathered in the same place, but scattered over a few metres”.
The clothes were found close to a stream, he said.
In a case that shocked the country, Émile went missing in July from his grandparents’ garden in the tiny village of Haut-Vernet, a remote mountain outpost with only two dozen inhabitants.
He was last seen by two witnesses walking down the street of his grandparents’ house. It is the only street in Haut-Vernet.
Émile was wearing a yellow T-shirt, white shorts and small hiking shoes.
An unnamed woman found Émile’s skull “between noon and 2pm, during a walk on a path that she remembers having walked a month before,” Blachon said.
“She was disturbed by this discovery, and placed [the skull] in a plastic bag. She went home and called the police. She was able to pinpoint exactly where she found [the skull].”
The site – about 25 minutes walk from the grandparent’s house – is in a steep, wooded area.
Following the discovery, forensic experts collected samples for testing, to establish if the body had been moved and to work out the cause of his death.
Police are investigating why Émile’s remains and clothing was not found last year.
The remains had not been buried in the ground.
Blachon said the skull had sustained “small fractures and cracks” after the boy’s death, and bite marks made by an animal.
A police spokesperson yesterday confirmed the area was extensively searched last year.
Police were keeping an open mind to the possibility the bones were moved by someone, taken by an animal or exposed by changing weather conditions.
Blanchon said the undergrowth was especially thick during original searches. Hot summer temperatures may have also hampered the effectiveness of sniffer dogs, he explained.
Émile had only just been dropped off by his parents when he went missing, and his parents were no longer in the small hamlet when he disappeared.
Hundreds of people joined with police to search for him.
His disappearance turned into a criminal inquiry, and police investigated a potential abduction.
However no firm leads materialised.
As media swarmed the tiny village, and the search for Émile went nowhere, some media focused on the role of the boy’s grandfather, now in his fifties.
Local media reported the grandfather’s lawyer had declined to comment on the discovery of Émile’s remains, “out of respect for the family’s grief”.
The search will continue tomorrow.
