Émile Soleil’s bones and clothes were dumped ‘shortly before their discovery’, French investigators revealed after releasing his grandparents without charge following their arrest on suspicion of murder this week.
Philippe and Anne Vedovini, both 59, were taken into custody on suspicion of murder and concealing a body during an early morning raid of their home near Marseilles on Tuesday.
Two of their 10 children were also arrested. Émile’s parents were not among them.
Émile had been staying with his grandparents at their holiday home in the hamlet of Haut-Vernet, south of Grenoble, when he went missing in July 2023.
He was found dead with a fractured skull, which bore a bite mark, roughly a mile away nine months later in March last year.
‘The clothes and bones discovered were transported and deposited shortly before their discovery’, public prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon said after the grandparents’ release on Thursday.
‘The child’s body did not decompose in the clothes found in the forest. These elements allow us to consider that the body did not remain in the same place and in the same biotope during the decomposition process.’
His skull showed signs of a ‘violent facial trauma’, Blachon said in what was only the second press conference since the investigation began in July 2023.
Although investigators are not ruling out manslaughter, they do believe someone was involved in Soleil’s death.
Blachon said: ‘The expert reports introduce the probability of the intervention of a third party in the disappearance and death of Emile Soleil.’
Speaking after the grandparents’ release without charge, Mr Vedovini’s lawyer, Isabelle Colombani, said: ‘It’s a relief for them, and for their lawyers too. I have never been too worried.
‘I thought we could explaine everything. There were maybe some grey areas to clear up, but that’s it.’
Julien Pinelli, Ms Vedovini’s defence barrister, described the release as ‘naturally a huge relief’, saying: ‘She is walking away free.’
Although the initial 72-hour detention period has expired, police could renew the couple’s custody at any time during the investigation.
Ms Vedovini has previously admitted there were ‘fifteen minutes of inattention’ while Émile was in their care on the day he disappeared.
A witness claims to have seen Mr Vedovini, a physiotherapist-osteopath,cutting wood outside the house around the time Émile is thought to have gone missing.
The discovery of Émile’s body, with his clothes scattered over several metres nearby, sparked speculation that he may have been attacked by wolves.
Others suspect he may have died from hunger, thirst or exhaustion after wandering off and getting lost in the wilderness, French newspaper Le Parisien reported.
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A Catholic priest who baptised Émile before his death, and later fell out with Mr Vedovini, killed himself on Saturday.
Father Claude Gilliot, 85, had frequently expressed his upset over the murder.
His sister, Claudine Vandenbroucke, said: ‘I’m very angry with Émile’s family, because I think it all started with them.’
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