Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: a two-and-a-half-year-old child actively sought

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: DAMIEN MEYER / AFP 15:42 pm, July 09, 2023

A two-and-a-half-year-old child, who was kept by his grandparents in their home in Vernet, a hamlet located in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, disappeared Saturday night and remained actively sought Sunday by gendarmes and firefighters, according to the prefecture and the gendarmerie.

Forty gendarmes mobilized

"A judicial investigation has been opened by the public prosecutor of the judicial court of Digne-les-Bains," said the statement of the prefecture. The investigation for "disturbing disappearance of minor" was entrusted to the research section of Marseille, said the prosecutor of Digne-les-Bains, Rémy Avon. The little boy, named Emile, was playing in the garden of his grandparents' house when he escaped their vigilance, disappearing Saturday night around 18:00 in an area whose surroundings are steep.

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"From 18:40 p.m., an important search device for the child was implemented," said Sunday in a statement the prefecture of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Canine teams, two helicopters, one with thermal camera, as well as drones also equipped with thermal cameras were mobilized to find the child, according to the gendarmerie and the prefecture. The search continued until the middle of the night and resumed Sunday morning at 06:00. Forty gendarmes, including soldiers of the high mountain gendarmerie platoon (PGHM), participate, as well as about twenty firefighters and volunteer residents, note the same sources.