Émile disappeared on July 8, 2023, when he had just arrived for the summer vacation with his maternal grandparents in Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).
Bones of the 2 and a half year old boy were found in March.
His funeral will take place on February 8, 2025.
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Émile affair: bones of the little boy found
The circumstances of the little boy’s death remain unknown and, in the fall, the criminal trail was still alive. Émile, two and a half years old, disappeared on July 8, 2023, when he had just arrived for the summer holidays at the second home of his maternal grandparents in Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ).
In March 2024, a walker found bones not far from the place belonging to the commune of Vernet and quickly identified them as those of the little boy. Eight months after this discovery, the mayor of Vernet, François Balique, told TF1info, confirming information from BFMTV, that the funeral will take place on February 8, 2025 in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume (Var) first, then to Haut-Vernet (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).
A grave near the small church
The funeral day will begin at 10 a.m. with a mass in the Sainte-Marie-Madeleine basilica of Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in the Var. The little boy’s body will then be buried in the small cemetery surrounding the Saint-Martin church in Haut-Vernet, 140 km from the ceremony site, a cemetery which has only a few graves.
“The parents live near Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume. They wanted the mass to take place there. Émile having died in Haut-Vernet, the town has the obligation to offer him a burial. The parents could have chosen to bury him elsewhere, with Bouilladisse where they live for example, but they chose Haut-Vernet“, comments the councilor.
François Balique tells us that he did not receive the official request for burial of the little boy but that he spoke about the funeral with Émile’s father about a fortnight ago. The latter would then have informed him of his wish to bury his son in Haut-Vernet, where the little boy’s grandparents have had a second home for around twenty years. The chosen one will attend “obviously” at the burial of the little boy.
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