It is not one, but two traces that experts from the Bordeaux forensic hematology laboratory found by analyzing the few bones and clothes of Émile found last March and April. The laboratory was seized at the end of June 2024, after a first series of expertise carried out by the IRCGN, the Criminal Research Institute of the Gendarmerie. From corroborating sources at RTL, these are two traces of unknown human DNA, foreign to that of Emile and that of his family.
These two traces were found in very small quantities and are degraded: they are partial DNA traces. For DNA to be interpretable, so that we can compare it, we must find at least ten different characteristics. For example, in order to be able to compare DNA to the automated genetic fingerprint file (FNAEG), you need at least 12 of these characteristics.
Concerning the two traces found in the Émile affair, the problem is that the DNA is only partial, with a small number of usable characteristics. In summary: the more the DNA found is degraded, the fewer of these different characteristics we find and the greater the possibilities of matches with other DNA. In fact, this greatly increases the range of people who could be suitable matches.
DNA traces by contamination?
Guest on RTL on November 27, General Hubert Bonneau, Director General of the National Gendarmerie, explains that investigators are working “hard” in an investigation which permanently mobilizes 20 soldiers. The head of the gendarmerie adds that investigators are working hard to “discover the truth so that the family can mourn […] we are not ruling out anything in this case.” All avenues therefore remain current according to General Bonneau, from individual accident to intentional homicide.
If it is possible that these two DNA traces are suspicious, it is also entirely conceivable that these two unknown DNA traces come from contamination. The little boy's clothes and bones underwent numerous manipulations, both when they were discovered by a hiker on March 30, but also during the first series of analyzes carried out by the IRCGN.
Even if the gendarmerie experts are protected from head to toe and take the greatest care during their expertise, it is possible that at some point an investigator could have left his DNA. “With humidity and after a certain time, masks and gloves can become porous and leak cells,” explains a specialist in the field. Furthermore, DNA is far from being the only element on which judges and investigators work. They are analyzing in particular the environment where Émile's bones and clothes were found, but also the telephony in the surrounding area.
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