Since July 8, 2023, Haut-Vernet has been at the heart of the news. That’s where little Emile disappeared. If this hamlet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is not its first drama, its 25 inhabitants are however not very used to the presence of the press. It is also to preserve his fellow citizens that François Balique, the mayor, had decided to close access to the village by a municipal decree. And if some are happy to talk to journalists about the disappearance of the two-year-old boy, others choose to remain discreet. This is the case of Emile’s family, who have not spoken in the media since the start of the case. What feed certain rumors, saying in particular members of a sect. A relative, however, wanted to take the floor to deny these unfounded rumors: “Parents and grandparents do not want to express themselves, we must respect that. Everything that is said about us is a bunch of bullshit. Like this story of a burning house in Beaujeu. We are Catholic and right-wing, so what?”had explained this man to BFM TV.
“They don’t talk to anyone except the lifeguard”
This choice to remain silent would be part of a strategy to put a potential criminal at the foot of the wall, had estimated an expert with The Dispatch August 16, 2023. But it would also and above all be a recommendation from the police. “Are they reproached for not being agitated? Investigators and the prefect advised them not to speak to the press. They do not want to hinder the course of the investigations”explained a resident of Vernet to our colleagues from Paris Match. Another resident had also confided in the behavior of the family, which she had a little more trouble conceiving: “People don’t understand that grandma goes shopping and we see her at the pool […] If I lost my grandson and the search was interrupted, I would have been in all my states, I would have used the journalists!” It must be said that Emile’s relatives have always been discreet in the town of Vernet, where they have had a second home for more than twenty years.
Some inhabitants of the village were indeed surprised to see the grandmother of the missing child continue her activities, in particular her weekly outing to the local market or her excursions to the municipal swimming pool with her other granddaughter Alaïs, the sister Emile’s youngest, one year old. Moreover, although walled in silence since the beginning of the case, the boy’s family nevertheless agrees to speak to a particular resident: “They don’t talk to anyone except the lifeguard. They have the right to go to the swimming pool anyway. If only to occupy Emile’s little sister!”had thus annoyed a regular of the places with BFM TVJuly 21, 2023.