More than a month has passed and the mystery remains… Saturday July 8, 2023, Émile, a two-year-old boy, disappeared in Haut-Vernet, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. While his grandparents were preparing their car for an outing, the child, then on vacation, escaped their vigilance. If Émile was seen by two witnesses in a descending street of this village, the investigators have still not managed to find his trace. But the fountain in the main street of Haut-Vernet raises questions. And for good reason, this is the place where the Saint-Hubert dogs of the national gendarmerie lost their trace. On BFM TVon July 10, Major Bruno Mourier – head of the canine brigade of the Gard gendarmerie and national Saint-Hubert tracking referent – specified that these dogs often intervened “in second level of research”before adding: “When the first tracking does not succeed, there is a request for intervention from the Saint-Huberts. This completes the initial research.”
Why is the Saint-Hubert called upon for search operations?
Since 2003, the Saint-Hubert has been in particular demand for search operations. In France, 11 teams of dog handlers are spread across the country. “The Saint-Hubert manages to track over a longer period, but it also manages to work on a scrambled area. If he is presented with a reference odor, he will be able to trace the oldest odor to the closest.“, said Major Bruno Mourier. As this work is done with his master, he explained: “A smell is volatile, the wind can move it. There are certain places where it is not possible to access. The dog works by closing the area, he lets himself be taken on a road, will get up from a blow, then return to seek direction. The master must follow it intelligently.” However, the heat reduces odors and it is therefore more difficult to find traces of little Emile. In addition, the dog can lose track if the person got into a vehicle or went back and forth… According to the mayor of Haut-Vernet, François Balique, the 2-year-old boy could have been kidnapped. Tuesday August 8, 2023, at the microphone of RTLhe had in fact dropped: “We are a municipality where we all know each other and the family is appreciated. It can only be an outside person.”