Four months after Émile’s disappearance, these three leads still at the heart of the investigations

More than four months after the little boy’s disappearance, the police “closed many doors”. But others still remain under study.

They continue to work, almost day and night. In a calm and peaceful atmosphere, which contrasts with the emotion that still arouses each of their trips to the town of Vernet. The fifteen experienced investigators in charge of solving the disappearance of little Émile do not despair.

“We remain hopeful. That’s why we are working,” whispers one of them to BFM DICI.

These “super gendarmes” act on the infinitely small, the detail, which would allow us to understand how the two and a half year old boy vanished last Saturday July 8.

Residents are still waiting for answers

This explains why neither the Marseille Research Section (SR) in charge of the investigation, nor the Aix-en-Provence public prosecutor’s office wish to communicate on this file, one of the most closed in France.

A wrong word or confidential information revealed could ruin the hopes of investigators. And those of Émile’s loved ones.

The village of Vernet would also like to know the truth in order to regain some semblance of “normal” life after such an affair. Sometimes, residents and observers convince themselves that the outcome is there, very close.

Like this Tuesday, October 17, when around fifty gendarmes invaded the hamlet of Roussimal to search the houses of one and the same family. That of a young farmer who is used to driving a tractor fast and who had words with Émile’s grandfather in Haut-Vernet the very morning of the disappearance.

Houses raided

A month after this demonstration of force, “no salient element has emerged” indicates a military source to BFM DICI. But there remains a considerable amount of elements to analyze.

On November 7, no less than 36 houses were searched. These are the primary and secondary residences of all those who passed through Haut-Vernet on July 8. Émile’s family included.

Thousands of text messages for as many calls and web searches. The investigators’ verification and cross-checking work is still dense. Not to mention the hearings that must be compared and these reports in France or abroad from people who think they have seen Émile alive which must be confirmed or not.

“There are several hundred. All are verified. All are false information for the moment,” assures an investigator.

Three avenues still under study

More than four months after Émile’s disappearance, the gendarmes “closed many doors”, that is to say, verified hypotheses which yielded nothing and which have now been abandoned. But others still remain under study.

“All avenues remain open but some remain more probable than others” deciphers a soldier who has been following the Émile affair since the first day.

Accident with body concealment is a serious possibility. Others also exist, such as that of a malicious person passing through or the disappearance within the family.

“This big door is not yet closed,” recognizes this same source who explains: “To close a door, you need a bundle of clues. We add up the clues that go in one direction or the other and if these “The clues are negative and the possibility diminishes, we end up closing the door. But it happens that doors remain open for a long time, even after a file has been closed.”

Émile’s cannot be closed. The investigators are not refraining from carrying out new operations in Vernet and other localities.