Émile case: two zones in Haut-Vernet inspected by Marseille gendarmes
Three and a half years after Émile Soleil's disappearance, investigators targeted two specific sectors of the Haut-Vernet hamlet on 23 September 2026.
Fresh search at Haut-Vernet in Émile case
On Wednesday 23 September 2026, gendarmes from the Marseille Research Section moved into the Haut-Vernet hamlet to inspect two targeted zones in the municipality where Émile Soleil, two and a half years old, disappeared in July 2023. The information is reported by midilibre.fr, based on revelations from the newspaper La Provence.
Investigators arrived in early afternoon with several vehicles near the home of Philippe and Anne Vedovini. They first examined the cover of a small square located on Rue du Four, before heading towards the path leading to Parc Demontzey — a wooded sector bounded by the Labounet pass and Haut-Vernet. It was precisely within this perimeter that Émile's skull had been found in 2024. Law enforcement left the hamlet around 18:00.
These operations were not the subject of any official communication from the judiciary regarding their precise reason, according to Nice Matin. The investigation continues with no suspect having been formally identified to date.
Facial trauma and unresolved leads
For over three years, the case has experienced numerous developments: several periods of custody for family members, multiple searches and raids. Despite this, no definitive truth has emerged.
Only one forensic element is established: Émile suffered a "severe facial trauma", an injury described — according to journalist Peggy Poletto — as "incompatible with an accidental fall or collision with a vehicle", but described as a "violent impact of an as yet undetermined nature".
Poletto advanced the hypothesis that a blow from a horse's hoof could have been fatal to the child. No forensic element nor any element of the investigation, however, allows the injuries to be attributed to a horse, nor establishes that Émile had approached one.
A podcast to revisit areas of uncertainty
The renewed media interest in the case coincides with the release of a new episode of the podcast Intérieur Crime, in which Guillaume Farde interviews Valentin Doyen, journalist and author of Émile, the grey areas of the investigation. Doyen revisits the circumstances of the disappearance, the initial statements, the searches conducted in the hamlet and the various leads examined by investigators since July 2023.
The case, which profoundly affected French public opinion, remains surrounded by numerous areas of uncertainty nearly three and a half years after the events.
Source: TF1 Info