La Bouilladisse, where the little boy was from, began a minute of silence this Thursday, April 11. Its mayor José Morales (PCF) took advantage of this traditional assembly to pay a sober tribute to little Émile and his loved ones.
The boy's disappearance left “an immense void” in the village, he said. The child's skull was found by a hiker on March 30 near Haut-Vernet. The investigation into the circumstances of the boy's death is continuing, the prosecutor's office said.. The little boy's family had lived there for years and was known to local residents, shocked by the news of the death of the two and a half year old boy. The latter was due to start his first school year last September in one of the village's nursery schools, located around thirty kilometers from Marseille. “The strong media coverage of this event, like a society that is too often voyeuristic, complicates the grief that every parent fears to face one day: the loss of their child, moreover in unclear circumstances,” said Morales.