Police are no closer to finding a two-year-old boy who went missing from his grandparents’ garden.

Despite extensive searches in the area over the last four days, investigators are expected to end search operations this evening, BFMTV reports.

Émile was last seen on Saturday afternoon, playing outside of the home in a small village near Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France.

He vanished while they were all getting ready to go on an outing and a huge search, which has included a helicopter, drones and sniffer dogs, was launched.

His parents – who have not been named – were at their home near Marseille, 200 miles away, for the summer holidays.

An emergency services source said: ‘Émile was always chasing butterflies, and could have got a long way away, before hiding somewhere for a nap.’

And during a news conference held yesterday, police admitted they ‘have no clues’ about the young boy’s whereabouts.

Public prosecutor Rémy Avon told journalists: ‘At the moment we have no clue, no information, no element that can help us understand this disappearance.’

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He stressed while ‘the investigation continues’ no progress had been made since Émile’s disappearance.

‘We are at the same point as the day before yesterday after receiving the two testimonies’, Mr Avon said. ‘We are really pushing the investigations on the ground as much as we can’.

He added: ‘Medically we are told that beyond a period of 48 hours, given the young age of the child, given his constitution, and the possibility that he will be deprived of water and food with the current heat, the vital prognosis is very very committed.’

‘Either the body was concealed after an accident, or it was removed’, a gendarmerie spokesperson said, adding the sniffer dogs would have found a body in the region by now.

‘It is obvious that, after 48 hours, we have switched to another dimension. Hearings are underway.’

The search continued with a helicopter broadcasting the voice of Émile’s mum in the hope of finding the young boy.

It will be expanded today and investigators are working on the telephone boundary to identify people who would have passed near the hamlet at the time of the disappearance. 

The extended search will be upgraded from ‘regional’ to ‘national’ and will see the number of investigators increase from 15 to 20.

Investigators have received 1,200 calls after putting out a call for witnesses, Le Parisian reports.

Officials are investigating whether the young boy could have been hit by a tractor or car and his body taken away, according to La Provence.

Another theory is Émile was known to chase butterflies and could have chased one for a long distance before taking a nap.

Police are also exploring a hypothesis that he could have been kidnapped – despite ruling this out just 24 hours earlier.

Mr Avon, told the same press conference: ‘All the hypotheses remain valid, none is favoured or excluded.

‘We are committed to carrying out investigations on all levels.’

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