{"id":24796,"date":"2025-03-25T14:52:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T14:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=24796"},"modified":"2025-03-25T14:52:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T14:52:55","slug":"grandparents-of-french-toddler-discovered-dead-almost-nine-months-after-going-missing-have-been-arrested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=24796","title":{"rendered":"Grandparents of French toddler discovered dead almost nine months after going missing have been arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

The grandparents of a French toddler whose body was found in the Alps last year have been arrested.<\/p>\n

Philippe and Anne Vedovini, both 59, were\u00a0arrested<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday, in connection with the death of two-year-old \u00c9mile Soleil.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 2023, \u00c9mile vanished from his grandparents\u2019 home in the French Alps. He was last seen walking alone down a street in July 2023, with a frantic\u00a0hunt launched<\/a>\u00a0to find him. But after five days, police called time on the \u2018large-scale\u2019 search.<\/p>\n

And then, nine months later, a\u00a0hiker stumbled across his skull<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They took the bones to a local police station, with his\u00a0clothes discovered scattered over a few meters.<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n
\"The\"The<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The toddler’s remains were discovered in late March 2024 (Police Handout)<\/cite><\/div>\n

In a police raid at dawn on Tuesday (25 March), authorities arrested four people.<\/p>\n

The grandparents and two other unnamed suspects have been arrested under suspicion of ‘intentional homicide’ and ‘concealing a corpse’, a statement explains.<\/p>\n

“This morning, Philippe Vedovini and his wife, grandparents of \u00c9mile Soleil, along with two of their adult children, were taken into custody by investigators from the Marseille gendarmerie’s investigation section,” the statement released by Aix-en-Provence prosecutors reads, as\u00a0per<\/a>\u00a0the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n

“These police custody placements are part of a phase of verification and comparison of the evidence and information gathered during the investigations carried out in recent months.<\/p>\n

“Investigators are also conducting forensic operations in various locations across the country.”<\/p>\n

Lawyer Isabelle Colombani, who represents the grandparents, has confirmed the arrest to France’s news agency AFP.<\/p>\n

\n
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\"At\"At<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

At the time, police launched a large-scale investigation (CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

Full timeline of \u00c9mile Soleil’s disappearance<\/h2>\n

8 July 2023 – \u00c9mile vanishes<\/h3>\n

Two-year-old \u00c9mile Soleil is staying with his grandparents in the remote hamlet of Haut-Vernet in the French Alps.<\/p>\n

On 8 July, he is seen by his maternal grandparents playing in the garden, as they host a family reunion.<\/p>\n

He is later seen by two neighbours walking by himself on a street in La Vernet, 2km away, wearing a yellow t-shirt, white shorts and hiking shoes.<\/p>\n

His grandparents call the police around 5.15pm when they realise he isn\u2019t at the house.<\/p>\n

9-13 July 2023 – Huge search launched<\/h3>\n

Police, soldiers and volunteers scour 1,200 acres searching for \u00c9mile in a huge search utilising drones and helicopters.<\/p>\n

His mother\u2019s voice is played \u2018as loud as possible\u2019 from speakers in aircraft over the search area.<\/p>\n

The search officially ends on 13 July, though the investigation continues.<\/p>\n

November 2023 – \u00c9mile\u2019s mother makes public appeal<\/h3>\n

On what would have been \u00c9mile\u2019s third birthday, his mother makes a public appeal.<\/p>\n

If he is alive, she pleads for his safe return, and if not she asks for his body to be handed back for burial.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\u00c9mile's\"\u00c9mile's<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00c9mile’s remains were found last year (NICOLAS TUCAT\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/cite><\/div>\n

28 March 2024 – Police reconstruct last sighting of \u00c9mile<\/h3>\n

Investigators summon 17 people, including \u00c9mile\u2019s family members, back to Haut-Vernet to reconstruct his last known movements.<\/p>\n

30 March 2024 – \u00c9mile\u2019s partial remains discovered<\/h3>\n

Some of \u00c9mile\u2019s skull bones are discovered by a hiker more than 1km from Haut-Vernet.<\/p>\n

The following day, police confirm the DNA matches \u00c9mile\u2019s.<\/p>\n

His parents say in a statement: \u201cThis heart-breaking news was feared, and the time has come for mourning, contemplation and prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

25 March 2025 – Police make four arrests<\/h3>\n

\u00c9mile\u2019s grandparents, as well as four other suspects are arrested under suspicion of ‘intentional homicide’ and ‘concealing a corpse’.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The grandparents of a French toddler whose body was found in the Alps last year have been arrested. Philippe and Anne Vedovini, both 59, were\u00a0arrested\u00a0on Tuesday, in connection with … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24798,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24796\/revisions\/24798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}