Emile Soleil, 2, was eaten by WOLVES hunting for prey locals fear after boy’s remains found in Alpine village

THE MYSTERY in the chilling case of Emile Soleil has deepened – as locals now say they are convinced he was killed by wolves.

The dead remains of the two-year-old – including a skull with a bite mark – were discovered in a forested ravine last month in a case that shocked France.

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Emile Soleil, 2, vanished in the French Alpine hamlet of Le Vernet last July[/caption]

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The road to Vernet was blocked after the dead remains of Emile were discovered[/caption]

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A hiker stumbled upon the bones and skull of Emile in the woods[/caption]

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Locals fear the tod was killed in a chilling wolf attack[/caption]

Cops said that little Emile’s remains were found outside of the hamlet Le Vernet almost eight months after the tod mysteriously disappeared from Alpine village.

Prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon, who is leading the criminal investigation into Émile’s death, said the toddler’s “t-shirt, pants and shoes” were “not gathered in the same place, but scattered over a few metres”.

While Authorities are still working to determine the cause of the death by analysing the skull and bones that were found, a new theory around Emile’s chilling death seems to have emerged.

A few locals now believe that Emile was killed in a chilling attack by a pack of wolves.

One person told Le Parisien: “The little one must have been the victim of an animal. And I only see the wolf as the culprit.

“They say wolves are afraid of people, but with a little boy like that, a big boy, the wolf would have seen him as another prey.”

François Balique, The mayor of Vernet where Emile lived, also seem to believe in the wolf theory.

He said: “There are some wolves here, especially in the summer with the sheep flocks.

“A wolf can very well grab a child at the village well and run for half an hour without stopping and without shedding blood,” he added.

Locals have also fueled the theory saying several wolves have been spotted in the area.

Stéphane Chevrier, president of the Vernet hunters’ association, told Le Figaro: “Our department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is one of the largest recorded wolf populations. Last September there were several attacks on cows and sheep near Vernet.”

Meanwhile, Emile’s grieving mother has spoken for the first time since the death of the French tot was announced.

In a heartfelt message posted on the Facebook group “Pray for Emile”, she wrote: “We are always very touched by your compassion. We try to read all your messages.”

The young boy’s mum had been actively in the group since Emile vanished from his grandparents’ remote family home in the south of France last year.

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Aix-en-Provence prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon addressing a press conference on the tragic case[/caption]

French soldiers and volunteers scoured the area but could not find any trace of Emile last year

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Cop cars standing near the area where Emile’s dead remains were found[/caption]

Chilling case

After going missing on July 8 last year from his isolated grandparents’ home, police launched a major search.

For days, police, soldiers, sniffer dogs, scores of volunteers, a helicopter and drones failed to find any sign.

They began a criminal investigation into possible abduction but didn’t rule out the possibilities of an accident or fall.

There had been no trace of Emile since, with investigators refusing to rule out any theory for the tragedy, including abduction and murder.

Last month, a hiker discovered the dead remains of the tot about a 25-minute away from the hamlet of Haut-Vernet, near Grenoble.

The unnamed woman was walking on a path that she remembered having walked a month prior, cops said.

“She was disturbed by the discovery and placed [the skull and bones] in a plastic bag.

“She went home and called the police. She was able to pinpoint exactly where she found it [the skull],” they added.

The entire village was blockaded by police with nobody allowed to leave or enter after the grim discovery.

A statement released by public prosecutors in Aix-en-Provence on Sunday added that “genetic analysis identifies” the bones as belonging to Emile.

It added that “criminalistic analysis” was also underway, and that gendarmes were carrying out “additional research” in the area where they were found.

“This heartbreaking news was feared,” the child’s parents said in a statement.

The official search site is two miles as the crow flies from the house in Haut-Vernet, where Emile was last seen with his grandfather, Philippe Vedovini, 58.

Emile was officially in the care of Mr Vedovini on the day of his disappearance as his parents, Marie Soleil and Colomban Soleil took a break.

A witness saw Mr Vedovini, a physiotherapist-osteopath, cutting wood outside his house around the time Emile is thought to have wandered off.

The grandfather’s lawyer previously declined to comment, “out of respect for the family’s grief”.

Though he confirmed that Emile’s parents’ home, in the southern town of La Bouilladisse, near Marseille, was searched back in July, while the grandparents’ homes nearby, and in the Alps, were also raided.

The ‘village of the damned’

Residents of Vernet often refer to it as the “village of the damned” due to a number of horror incidents in its past.

In March 2015, the hamlet was also cordoned off following a horrific air crash in which 150 people died, including two babies.

The Germanwings Airbus A320 was deliberately brought down by co-pilot Andres Lubitz, who had previously been treated for suicidal tendencies.

Many Vernet residents took part in high mountain searches for possible survivors at the time.

They also opened their homes to family and friends of those who perished in the disaster.

The inhabitants of Vernet were also shaken by the murder of a local café manager in the village 15 years ago.

Jeannette Grosos, who ran the Café du Moulin, was brutally killed by a customer in 2008.

Mayor François Balique said: “It was a real drama for the whole village – one which it has had a hard time recovering.”

One resident of Vernat said: “Everybody is saying it – Vernet feels like a village of the damned.”

A statement from Emile’s parents, Marie and Colomban Soleil, who are both devout Catholics, said they “now know on this Resurrection Sunday that Emile watches over them in the light and tenderness of God”.

It continued: “Marie and Colomban would like to thank all those who helped and supported them as well as the investigating judges and investigators for their work, their professionalism, their personal commitment and their humanity which were of great comfort to them, in recent months and in particular on this day…

“But the pain and sorrow remain. The time has come for mourning, contemplation and prayer.”

José Morale, mayor of La Bouilladisse, the town near Marseille where Emile’s family spent most of the year, said: “We will do our best to support them.

“For the parents, it’s very complicated. There is no relief, the sadness is infinite, we are all dejected.”

Emile’s parents were ‘heartbroken’ by the discovery of their son’s remains

Residents have refered to Vernet as the ‘village of the damned’

A resident of Vernet is interviewed about the tragic outcome of the tot’s disappearance