On 9 April, French police gave a devastating update regarding the death of Émile Soleil who went missing in July 2023, in French hamlet Haut-Vernet.
Émile was last seen by two neighbours on 8 July, walking alone on a street in Le Vernet - approximately 1,200 metres up in the French Alps.
After the two-year-old’s clothes and bones were discovered half a mile from the toddler's family home, authorities confirmed they had found more of his bones in a separate location, 'almost 500ft' away.
Advert
It is thought the latest discoveries will provide clarification on his cause of death, as it is not yet known whether it is the result of ‘accident or murder’.
Émile was last seen alive by two neighbours on 8 July last year, walking alone on a street in Le Vernet - about 1,200 metres up in the French Alps.
As part of one of the discoveries, his skull was found, as well as some teeth just last month.
Advert
The hiker who found the skull, identified only as Manon, has spoken out in her first ever interview.
Manon, in her 60s, has explained that she was questioned for nine hours though not arrested, and even became a suspect in the heartbreaking case.
She also expressed surprise that the skull had not been found by sniffer dogs.
She told the BFM TV news channel: “I found it in the middle of the path.
Advert
“It was white, and very clean, there were only the top teeth…I cried, and then I calmed down.”
She went on to explain her decision to pick up the skull in plastic bags instead of leaving it on the path, and identify a landmark to better accompany the police back to the scene of her discovery.
She said: “I could have left [the skull] but then, by the time I went back, it would no longer have been there.
Advert
“That’s why I picked it up, I know that on days with weather like this, if you wait, the mountain is no longer the same.
“Then I saw a huge fir tree collapsed on its side. I said to myself, 'this is the fir tree that will serve as a landmark'.
Manon recalled her journey home and what was running through her mind.
Advert
She said: “I said to myself ‘quickly, quickly, I have to bring the thing back and the police will find the culprit, the investigation will finally move forward.’
“The whole trip, I carried the thing at arm’s length, because feeling the shape touching my body, terrified me.”
Manon returned home around 2.00pm and called the police. She left the skull outside as bringing the skull into her home was ‘inconceivable’.
The police arrived at 3.00pm after which she says they questioned her for nine hours - though she was not formally under arrest.
They then took her electronic devices away - which she admitted she didn't 'expect' - and returned them a week later, telling her she was free to live her life as normal.
“May they find peace… May God give them peace”, Manon concluded.
Lead prosecutor Jean-Luc Blanchon has suggested 'wild animals' may have been to blame for the dispersing of the toddler's remains, as well as the 'small fractures' and 'bite marks' on his skull.
Mayor François Balique has also spoken out about the disappearance and death of Émile.
He said: “I can't help but believe that an adult is involved in this matter. Émile would never have gone alone to where he was found.”
Kya Buller