The grandparents of a French toddler who went missing nearly two years ago in France have been arrested on suspicion of his murder, authorities said Tuesday.
Émile Soleil, a two-year-old boy, went missing from his grandparents’ home in a remote hamlet of the French Alps in July of 2023. Nine months later, his remains were found by a hiker near the village of Le Haut-Vernet.
Now, the boy’s grandparents and two of their adult children have been taken into custody, CNN reports.
Volunteers take part in a search operation for Emile Soleil, who was reported missing in the French southern Alps village of Le Haut-Vernet. Emile was last seen playing in the garden at his grandparents’ house on July 8, 2023. Nicolas Tucat/AFP via Getty Images
The boy’s grandfather, Philippe Vedovini, and his wife, who was not named by prosecutors, were arrested this week on suspicion of “voluntary homicide” and “concealing a corpse,” a statement from the Aix-en-Provence public prosecutors said.
When Soleil first disappeared, there was no indication the toddler had been abducted, police said at the time. But when the toddler’s bones were found so close to the hamlet in an area that had been searched by authorities, questions were raised as to how they got there.
Soleil vanished the day after his parents dropped him off in Le Haut-Vernet to stay with his grandparents on a holiday.
FULL STORY: https://globalnews.ca/news/11098927/emile-soleil-missing-french-toddler-grandparents-arrested-murder/
