The chief investigator believes that the missing Emil may still be alive

Is there a chance that little Emil S is still alive? Christian Rodriguez, head of the French gendarmerie, is optimistic. A few days ago, the investigator said that nothing could be said with certainty about the fate of the missing boy, “but it is possible.”

For over seven months there was no sign of little Emile. The two-year-old went missing from his grandparents' garden in Le Vernet, southern France, on July 8, 2023. After several weeks of intensive searching, the gendarmerie called off the search.

The boy was presumed dead by police last August. Christian Rodriguez sees it differently. He told RTL that the investigators of the case “will look for all possible means” to solve the disappearance of Emile. The head of the gendarmerie assures that “important resources” are being used: 20 investigators are devoting themselves full-time to the search in this “regrettable” case.

“All possible hypotheses are being worked out,” Rodriguez said. Without elaborating on the current investigation, he said: “Some theories hold up more than others.” The head of the gendarmerie lamented that there were no video surveillance cameras in the area around Le Haut-Vernet.

The case of the missing email isn't the only one that can be quickly solved with the footage of a surveillance camera. The search for 15-year-old Lena, who disappeared without a trace in Alsace last September, is still in full swing. In this case, too, Christian Rodriguez was optimistic: according to his reports, Lina “may still be alive”.