“In one month, I experienced all the phases”. Mayor of Vernet for nearly twenty years, François Balique rewinds, as if to better realize what is happening to him. “When I heard the news, I was convinced that we would quickly find him. And besides, I took part in the research”. Like many inhabitants of this peaceful village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. It was July 8th. Little Émile, recently on vacation with his maternal grandparents, had suddenly disappeared.
The 2-year-old toddler was last seen at 5:15 p.m., alone, on a street in the tiny hamlet of Haut-Vernet, about two kilometers from Vernet, the village of 125 inhabitants to which he is administratively attached, some 30 kilometers north of Digne-les-Bains.
Thirty houses searched
After his disappearance, the 30 houses of Haut-Vernet were searched, all the inhabitants questioned and all the vehicles inspected. 97 hectares of fields, woods or steep terrain were “carefully” scrutinized, said Digne-les-Bains prosecutor Rémy Avon during the research, referring to “one of the most important judicial search operations ever conducted”.
But all these operations, the first two days in the form of citizen beats with the help of hundreds of volunteers who sometimes came from afar, then by gendarmes from the Marseille search section or the Digne search brigade, did not unable to trace the child.
No trace
Opened in flagrance on July 9, the day after his disappearance, to find the causes of his worrying disappearance, the investigation has since been entrusted to two investigating judges from Aix-en-Provence. Just last week, dog teams specializing in the detection of human remains, supported by drones, were deployed to the village.
Before going to the evidence: a month later, the investigators still have no trace of the child. And no track seems to be privileged in investigations which are now done out of sight. Contacted by 20 Minutes Marseillesthe gendarmerie simply indicates that the investigation is in progress and in the hands of the prosecution.
“This story remains a mystery”
“Today, the problem is that we still don’t know what happened,” asks François Balique. “There is no explanation. This story remains a mystery. And as long as we don’t have the solution, we won’t be at peace. In the small town, a month later, the story is still in everyone’s head according to the city councilor, who, in turn, by rehashing the story, makes assumptions. “We are all concerned at Vernet,” says François Balique. And we are all convinced that it is not someone from the village who is concerned. With all the means that have been put in place, we found nothing, nothing! Necessarily, this disappearance is linked to the involvement of one or more adults who came to Vernet. And today, that’s what causes me revolt and anger.
Originally from Bouilladisse, a small village at the gates of Marseille in the Bouches-du-Rhône, Émile’s family owns one of the 300 second homes in Vernet. “I know the grandparents very well,” says François Balique. “Like all the families who come on vacation, they have been coming for almost twenty years for our pastoralism, for our municipality which has preserved a natural state. We are not into consumerism here. These are people who live normally, like citizens, who have their convictions. They lead the life they want to lead, as long as they respect the laws of the Republic”.
A village festival scheduled for the anniversary date
Since the disappearance of Émile, as if to invalidate or confirm this flood of hypotheses in progress, the press has echoed the past of the family, the political commitment of his father, among others, candidate for the regional elections on Zou’s list Friends of Éric Zemmour »To the arson of the great-grandparents’ house in 2019 in a neighboring town of Vernet. “All of that is fantasies,” annoys François Balique. “What does that have to do with facts?” There is no link! “Asked by our colleagues from BFM about this, a member of Emile’s family lamented” a fabric of bullshit “. According to the mayor, the family is still on vacation in Haut-Vernet since the disappearance of the toddler. On July 8, Émile was in the company of some of his maternal uncles and aunts. The toddler’s mother comes from a family of 10 children.
A month after the events, at Vernet, the mayor has a desire: “Let life continue normally”. François Balique has lifted the order hitherto in progress which prohibited access to Haut-Vernet. For this tragic anniversary date, the village is preparing… for the party. August 8 marks the third edition of the Vernet transhumance festival. “The most important thing is the return to normal life,” insists the city councilor. “That does not prevent the questions from growing every day. But what would you like us to do? That we close the shutters while waiting? What’s the point ? This in no way alters our concern and our solidarity with the family. They know they can count on me but we need to find the rhythm we had”.