THE grandparents of missing Émile Soleil have been arrested on suspicion of murder in a shocking twist.

The two-year-old vanished two years ago while at his grandparent’s holiday home in France.

Philippe and Anne Vedovini, both 59, were arrested on Tuesday along with two of their adult children in connection with Émile’s death.

The four are all facing charges of “intentional homicide” and “concealing a corpse”, according to a statement from Aix-en-Provence prosecutors.

Émile’s parents, Marie and Colomban Soleil, are not believed to be the two adult children arrested.

Émile was officially in the care of his granddad the day he disappeared Marie and Colomban took a break.

Philippe later admitted “fifteen minutes of inattention”.

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

The tot’s remains, including a fractured skull, were only discovered nine months later, following daily searches.

François Balique revealed to Le Figaro that the remains were located “on a path connecting the Church and Chapel” in the village, barely over 100 yards from his residence.

However, Mayor Balique mentioned that gendarmes had conducted an exhaustive search of the hamlet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, implying that the bones might have been relocated to Vernet.

A source close to the investigation told The Mail that such a move would add a very disturbing element to the investigation.

It would be unlikely that animals would return human remains, the source claimed.

Instead they said the discovery suggests that “a person brought Emile’s remains back, and potentially very recently”.

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