A former CIA psychic has claimed that he had already told authorities where the body of a missing French toddler would be before a hiker stumbled across his remains on Saturday (30 March).
Émile Soleil disappeared from his grandparents' holiday home in Haut-Vernet in the French Alps on 8 July last year and was last seen walking down a street alone in the tiny village which boasts just 25 residents.
A frantic hunt was launched to find the two-year-old boy after his relatives raised the alarm, but police ended up calling time on the 'large-scale' search after five days.
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Police said they would be exploring the information they had gathered so far, while continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding Émile's disappearance.
For the last nine months, the trail had gone cold and officials had not provided any major updates in the case.
But over the weekend, a hiker in the remote area of France found human remains, which forensic scientists later confirmed belonged to Émile.
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The unnamed walker is said to have found a skull near the hamlet of Le Vernet, close to where the toddler vanished last year, before taking the bones to a local police station.
Police told Le Figaro that they would have 'preferred that she didn’t touch anything' and are now trying to determine how the remains were missed despite crews thoroughly combing the area.
"We're looking for any trace and any clue," police commander Pierre-Yves Bardy told reporters.
Marie-Laure Pezant, a spokesperson for the gendarmerie, added: "There is the possibility that these bones were taken there by someone or an animal or by weather conditions that may have altered the area."
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Following the news of the horrific discovery, a former CIA psychic has claimed that he had already identified the area where Émile would be found by using a technique known as 'remote viewing'.
Major Ed Dames, who was operations and training officer at the joint CIA and Army Psychic Intelligence Unit, said it took him two days to track down the little boy's whereabouts.
The 74-year-old supplied emails to The Sun which shows that he had emailed police in December alleging that the missing toddler was 'located at, or in proximity to' a field.
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It has since emerged that this patch of land Maj Dames was referring to is situated right next to the site where Émile's remains were found.
"It took me two days," he told the publication. "I jumped on it immediately. I knew this is a serious case and the sense of urgency is high."
The former CIA operative was previously involved in a secret project which inspired the 2009 film The Men Who Stare At Goats, starring George Clooney and Ewan McGregor.
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Émile's parents, Marie and Colomban Soleil, told of their 'pain and sorrow' in a statement provided to press by their lawyer, Jerome Triomphe, on Easter Sunday.
"This heartbreaking news was feared... (They) know on this Resurrection Sunday that Émile watches over them in the light and tenderness of God." he said.
"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."
Olivia Burke