“It’s a shock”, investigators blame themselves but are 90% sure of knowing the causes of death

The Aix-en-Provence prosecutor’s office announced earlier this week that searches associated with the remains of the young man’s body Emile were stopped, approximately ten days after the discovery of quickly identified bones, by a hiker on a path bordering the hamlet of Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) where the child had been seen for the last time. It was July 8, 2023. The boy, then two and a half years old when he disappeared, was placed under the supervision of his grandparents who own a property there. As soon as his disappearance was reported, a major device was deployed and the area was cordoned off to allow investigators to carry out their search without being disturbed, to no avail.

Today, these are not taking off. “They are not in good spirits and they blame themselves”informed a senior officer of the gendarmerie to our colleagues from Mariannefor its new issue of April 11. “It’s still a shock to think that we could have missed it”he added, recalling that in fact the area where the bone fragments and the toothas well as clothing belonging to the child, had been raked up at the time. “We were surprised to find it so close to the village”a former gendarme also reproached himself, while at the same time it is suggested that “the investigation was unlucky, and undoubtedly, also, multiplied the failures”.

The family drama thesis excluded

Which does not prevent investigators from favoring one hypothesis over another. Indeed, if the public prosecutor of Aix-en-Provence Jean-Luc Blachon had previously made it known that no avenue was privileged, nor to be excluded, the experts who carried out field work seem able to confirm their opinion. It must be said that the magistrate also stated during his last press conference that“no ante-mortem trauma” had not been “observed” on the bones discovered on the said path, a priori easy to access for a child and located 25 minutes on foot from the grandparents’ house. This is one of the reasons why “several sources” close to the file favor “90%” the trail of the accidentwe inform the editorial staff of the magazine.

“We do not yet know where exactly he could have gone, the whole area is very gully due to the last heavy rains”wished to share another gendarme, reinforced in his reasoning by the mayor of the commune of Vernet on which the hamlet depends. François Balique had already spoken on several occasions, showing himself sometimes resigned and sometimes worried for the safety of his constituents, given the media coverage of this disappearance affair. For Mariannethe elected official explained that the criminal trail and more precisely that ofa family drama was no longer privileged at present. “In any case, the family track is completely excluded”he actually suggested.

Other fatal accidents keep investigators busy

This is not the only investigation which interests public opinion and in which the accident theory is also favored. This is the case for the body recovered in Deux-Sèvres a few days ago… It concerns that of Erwan, 18 years old, who disappeared on February 11 after spending part of the night in a club with several friends. He would have drowned according to the autopsy results. This is also what we think for Pablo, after the discovery of a body in the Vonne (Vienna), not far from where the young man, also aged 18, was last seen on Saturday March 30 in similar circumstances to Erwan.

While we still have no news of Lina, who disappeared in September 2023 when she had gone to meet her boyfriend in Strasbourg by train, it is indeed the accident trail which is favored in the context of the investigation into the disappearance of a couple from Tarn-et-Garonne in Madeira, again on a hiking trail.

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