The case of toddler Emile Soleil has taken a new eerie turn, with locals now convinced he was killed by a wandering group of wolves.
Two-year-old Emile’s disappearance in the isolated French hamlet of Haut-Vernet, near Grenoble, last July shocked the country and what happened to him is still a mystery.
His remains, including his skull which had a bite mark, were found in the Auches Ravine, just over a mile from where he was last seen playing.
Detectives are trying to figure out whether he was the victim of some kind of accident or something more sinister.
Jean-Luc Blachon, the prosecutor leading the criminal investigation, said his clothing was ‘not gathered in the same place, but scattered over a few metres’.
Some locals have now settled on a new theory – that the tragic youngster was killed in an attack by wolves.
One told Le Parisien: ‘The little one must have been the victim of an animal. And I only see the wolf as the culprit.
‘They say wolves are afraid of people, but with a little boy like that, a big boy, the wolf would have seen him as another prey.’
François Balique, mayor of Vernet where Emile lived, also appeared to subscribe to the wolf theory.
He said: ‘There are some wolves here, especially in the summer with the sheep flocks.
‘A wolf can very well grab a child at the village well and run for half an hour without stopping and without shedding blood.’
Stéphane Chevrier, president of the Vernet hunters’ association, told Le Figaro: ‘Our department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is one of the largest recorded wolf populations.
‘Last September there were several attacks on cows and sheep near Vernet.’
But Chevrier remarked that a wolf attack ‘seems out of the question for me’, but added that ‘it is possible for a wolf to feed on a corpse and move it’.
How the search unfolded
The toddler is dropped off at his grandparents’ house near Le Vernet, a small village in the French Alps, where a family reunion is being held. Emile is last seen playing in the garden and is reported missing at 5.15pm.
A massive search is underway in the mountains, including a helicopter, drones and sniffer dogs. They take in a 1,200 acre area but there is no trace of Emile.
After a public appeal has still yielded no results, the area being examined is made wider. Police are searching Emile’s parents’ home near Marseille, 200 miles away, where they are staying for the summer holidays.
A recording of Emile’s mother’s voice is given to pilots to play ‘as loud as possible’ from speakers on the aircraft to try and reach the toddler and find where he is. Local houses are also examined.
A potential lead comes to nothing after blood found on a car the previous day is analysed as coming from an animal. The search is wound down with still no answers about what happened.
A restriction on those who are not local entering Le Vernet is renewed, to stop ‘malicious tourism’ after the case generated a lot of media interest.
Local prosecutor Remy Avon says authorities are still looking at all possibilities, including murder, kidnap or an accident such as being run over by a tractor or combine harvester.
Divers search a lake near Grenoble again in an attempt to find Emile, shortly after detectives used a jackhammer to break apart a slab at a home close to where Emile’s family lived.
Le Vernet mayor François Balique says it seems the boy must have been moved from the area by ‘a madman, or someone Machiavellian’, as no trace has been found.
A hiker discovers a skull and other remains while walking in the Alps, just over a mile from where Emile was last seen. They are passed to police
Genetic analysis confirms that the bones found are those of Emile. The discovery sparks renewed press interest, and also questions about why they were not found before given the large search in the area.
Mayor Balique said: ‘The gendarmes couldn’t have missed him with the dogs. There was even logging there in autumn. The wood cutters didn’t see anything either. It’s incomprehensible.’
His parents speak of their grief via their lawyer, who said: ‘This heartbreaking news was feared… (They) know on this Resurrection Sunday that Émile watches over them in the light and tenderness of God.’
Marie and Colomban Soleil recently shared their ‘pain and sorrow’ after being told of their son’s fate.
In a statement sent to press on Easter Sunday via their lawyer Jerome Triomphe, the two said: ‘This heartbreaking news was feared… (They) know on this Resurrection Sunday that Émile watches over them in the light and tenderness of God.
‘Marie and Colomban would like to thank all those who helped and supported them as well as the investigating judges and investigators for their work, their professionalism, their personal commitment and their humanity which were of great comfort to them, in recent months and in particular on this day… But the pain and sorrow remain.
‘The time has come for mourning, contemplation and prayer.’
