this measure that the mayor of Vernet will take for the funeral of the little boy

Found dead on March 30, 2024, little Émile will finally be buried on February 8, 2025 after a long investigation to determine the circumstances of his disappearance. The funeral will take place under close surveillance.

After disappearing on July 8, 2023, little Émile Soleil was found dead on March 30 in the town of Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). It is in the village that he will be buried on February 8, 2025, almost two years after the tragedy, according to information from BFM DICI which was confirmed this Wednesday January 1 by Provence . Due to the ongoing investigation, the family had not yet been able to organize the funeral of the boy who was two and a half years old when he disappeared. “A mass, open to the public, should take place […] in the Sainte-Marie-Madeleine basilica of Saint-Maximin in the Var”revealed the media.

Interviewed by Provencethe mayor of the hamlet, François Balique, explained that the funeral will take place in “two times” : “There will be a ceremony in the basilica [et] he will then be buried in the Haut-Vernet cemetery. His parents approached us so that he could be buried there. Since the child died in Le Vernet, he will therefore be buried in the Haut-Vernet cemetery.” Furthermore, our colleagues specify that the mayor wishes this meditation to be “as intimate as possible” and hammered home that we “is not at the show”. He stated that there is “very good chance” that he issue “a municipal decree to block access” to the hamlet, which has been widely publicized since the disappearance of the child. On the other hand, Father Florien Racine, parish priest of the diocese of the basilica of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume, acknowledged to BFM DICI that the religious ceremony will undoubtedly be “media” and expects to receive “lots of people”. However, it is also a wish of the family to be able to welcome those who want to pay their respects in memory of Émile.

Death of Émile: where is the investigation?

Emile’s death still remains a mystery to this day. In an interview with RTL at the end of November, Hubert Bonneau, the director general of the French national gendarmerie, assured that all hypotheses are being studied, four months after discovering the bones and clothes of the little boy. “We are not ruling out anything in this matter. We are on a news item, but behind it, there are families […] Our job is also to discover the truth so that families can mourn. It is a duty we have towards families. That’s the most important thing”he declared. According to media information, two traces of human DNA were found on Émile, but they are “degraded” and therefore surely unusable. To be continued.

Article written in collaboration with 6Medias.