Missing boy, 2, could possibly still be alive, say French gendarmes

Émile, the boy who disappeared aged 2 from the mountain hamlet of Haut-Vernet in July 2023, could still be found alive, the director general of the national gendarmerie has said.

Christian Rodriguez told radio station RTL today (March 12) that it is “possible” that the boy could still be found alive.

Disparition d'Émile : "Je ne sais pas s'il est toujours vivant mais c'est possible"

Général Christian Rodriguez, Directeur Général de la@Gendarmerie Nationale invité de @amandine_begot dans #RTLMatin pic.twitter.com/MepD1xKt9N

— RTL France (@RTLFrance) March 12, 2024

Investigations continue in the case, after the boy vanished from the close-knit Alpes-de-Haute-Provence hamlet above the village of Le Vernet. No sign of him has been seen since.

A team of 20 investigators are working full-time on the case, Mr Rodriguez said, adding: “I do not know if he is still alive, but it is possible.

“Major resources have been and are still being deployed. The investigators are trying to look at all possible leads.”

Working hypotheses, including possible kidnapping

Mr Rodriguez added that “all gendarmes are contributing, because a kidnapping case is also one of the working hypotheses. Everyone is alert on these cases; police and gendarmerie”.

Kidnapping has neither been confirmed nor ruled out, and is just one of the possible leads being considered in the case. Other suggestions have included that the boy was accidentally injured or killed by a car or farm vehicle, and his body was hidden.

Several houses and cars in the local area have also been searched, and sniffer dogs and infrared cameras on helicopters were also used in the days and months following Émile’s disappearance, but no trace has yet been found.

"The investigators are working on all possible hypotheses,” said Mr Rodriguez. “Some [of these hypotheses] are more open than others,” he said, without going into greater detail.

He added that while it may be difficult to imagine “a disappearance taking place today” because of modern technology, in “some areas” it could still be possible, because “there are no video surveillance cameras”, and in this area in particular “there is only one mobile phone mast” and “not several”.

Missing teenager Lina

In the same interview, Mr Rodriguez said that Lina, the 15-year-old who disappeared from Bas-Rhin in September 2023, 18 months after she reported that she had raped, could also be found alive.

Lina disappeared from the hamlet of Champenay, in Saint-Blaise-La Roche, as she was walking from her home to the nearest train station at around 11:20am on September 23. She had planned to meet her boyfriend - but he said that she never arrived, and reported her missing to her family later that morning.

CCTV cameras show that Lina did not get on a train that day, and appeared to have disappeared before she arrived at the station. There are no security cameras in the small town of Saint-Blaise-La Roche.

No trace of Lina has been found since despite extensive searches, but police were looking for a man in his 20s reportedly driving a grey Renault Clio in the area at the time in connection with the case. No arrests have been made.

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