Le Vernet (France) - The missing child case of little Émile (†2) ended in his tragic death - and has occupied the whole of France ever since . Now four people have been arrested, including his grandparents.

As the French broadcaster"BFMTV" reports, the handcuffs clicked on Tuesday morning on the couple's two maternal grandparents and two adult children.

According to the report, the public prosecutor's office is accusing the four family members of premeditated murder and hiding a body.

It is not yet known exactly what led to the arrest. However, according to a spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office, it was made in the course of a "review of information" gathered during the investigation over the past few months.

Émile, who was two and a half years old at the time, suddenly disappeared without a trace in the summer of 2023 from a garden in the southern French village of Le Vernet, where he was visiting his grandparents. They had lost sight of him. Two witnesses later stated that they had seen the child running down the street.

The police then searched for him for a long time in vain, but almost nine months later a hiker found his remains .

Initially, there was no certainty as to the exact cause of death: "Between a fall of the child, involuntary manslaughter and murder, we still cannot consider one theory to be more likely than the other to explain the disappearance and death of the child Émile," explained the public prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon in a statement a few days after the bones were found.

The investigation that was immediately launched did not lead to any results - until now. A few days ago, there was movement in the case when officers confiscated a flower pot near the village chapel. According to reports, they received an anonymous tip by letter.

First reported at 9.22 am, last updated at 9.54 am.