Boy, 2, missing in French Alps: Outsiders banned from search site

The local search for Emile, two - who went missing from the French Alps at the weekend - has been called off, with more ‘targeted and selective’ scientific investigations now beginning.

Fears are growing for missing two-year-old Emile, who is still missing despite the use of a helicopter with a thermal camera, and trained police sniffer dogs, in the search.

The boy went missing at around 17:15 on Saturday, July 8, as his family was packing the car for a trip.

He had been staying - along with other teenage relatives - at his grandparents’ house in the 25-inhabitant hamlet of Haut-Vernet (which is itself located around 2km above the small village of Le Vernet, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).

Read more: Boy, 2, still missing in French Alps nearly three days on

It was initially thought that he had wandered away of his own accord after witnesses said they had seen him walking away from the house. They had not been worried, they said, because children are often seen freely exploring the small hamlet.

The mayor of Le Vernet, François Balique, said initially that there was no reason to suspect a kidnapping, and no kidnapping alert had been issued.

He said: “We have looked at the most dangerous areas where he could have slipped…I've been mayor for a long, long time. I've never experienced this kind of situation. It's such an ordinary situation, with such dramatic possible consequences.”

Site closed to outsiders

Yet, three days after searches began with hundreds of volunteers, plus 80 gendarmes and 10 military officers, some are beginning to fear the incident may be “more than a simple disappearance”, and that the boy may not have simply wandered off or got lost.

The gendarmerie of Digne-les-Bains has opened an inquiry and is working on the case, said Rémy Avon, the public prosecutor of Digne-les-Bains.

On Monday (July 10), he said: “From tomorrow morning, the site will be closed to anyone who is not from the area.”

He added: “As things stand, there is no evidence to suggest one hypothesis or another. There is no evidence of a criminal offence that could have led to this disappearance.”

More targeted searches

More targeted searches, including those using scientific evidence, have now started.

Two more houses in the hamlet - which has several holiday homes - are yet to be searched, investigators said, but added that it would be very unlikely that the boy would have been able to descend down from Haut-Vernet to Le Vernet by himself.

At a press conference in Le Vernet, the department prefect, Marc Chappuis, said: “The search will continue, but we are going to adapt the operation to make it more targeted and selective…We are stopping the search parties…[and deploying] specialised resources to search for traces and clues.”

The searches already carried out have failed to find the boy, within the 5km radius around the hamlet. Mr Chappuis had also said that “the boy should have been found” if he was still in the area, given the searches already carried out.

Nassima Djebli, spokeswoman for the Gendarmerie Nationale, on BFMTV, explained more about the use of sniffer dogs in the search. She said: "These dogs have a very, very keen sense of smell.”

Major Mourier, the national Saint-Hubert tracking coordinator for the Gendarmerie Nationale, added: "These dogs are often involved in second-level searches.” He said that the Saint-Hubert breed is “reputed to have a better sense of smell” than traditional German shepherds or Malinois dogs, and can track a person’s scent for longer than 24 hours.

One volunteer told journalists: “The public prosecutor must have their reasons to decide to end the search…it may be more than just a disappearance…It could be anything... [but] we hope not. This is just an innocent child.”

Investigators are still inviting anyone who may have any information to call a dedicated number if they have any genuinely helpful details. The number is 04 92 36 73 00.

Mr Avon said that while 500 calls have already been received at the number, he warned people not to ‘block’ the emergency line and to only call if they have useful information.

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