Sitting in his garden, looking out to the rocky Trois- Evêchés mountain range in southern France, François Balique said: "It's a mystery. A mystery that's going in every direction." Oblivious to the jangle of bells from the nearby church, the mayor of Le Vernet continued wearily: "Why are people so interested? Because it's as mysterious as a miracle. But a tragic miracle."

On July 8, a two-year-old boy named Émile disappeared from the outskirts of this village of 130 inhabitants. The child had been playing near his grandparents' house in Haut-Vernet, a hamlet nestled 2 kilometres from the main village. The summer holidays had just begun.

A two-day search by nearly 800 people – gendarmes, voluntary firefighters, family members and tourists – yielded nothing. A 5-kilometre perimeter was scoured in vain. There was not a trace of the boy to be found. The investigation has begun to lose traction. A national unit of 23 specialist police officers, coordinated from Marseille, has been working night and day on the case. But with no clues as to whether Émile is alive or dead, the case has become a litany of unanswered questions: was the child the victim of a road accident? Kidnapping? Family conflict? A wolf attack? In investigations like these, time is the enemy of truth and the accomplice of speculation.

Amateur detectives

At the beginning of September, Balique witnessed the reappearance of journalists wandering the village looking for any locals who may not have given their views on the disappearance yet, and who had not already said that they knew nothing, that they shared the family's sadness and, of course, that they hoped for a happy outcome.

A stranger is easy to spot among the chalets and grazing donkeys. Especially as the last tourists have now left the narrow streets of Le Vernet – a village of just 50 permanent homes and 300 vacation properties. Only a handful of hikers remain, to follow a trail which leads to Piedmont in Italy, along tracks once used by shepherds with their herds to evade the summer heat in this ancient alpine region.

The mystery surrounding the child's disappearance has fuelled a media frenzy. News site BFM DICI, the local offshoot of France's BFM-TV news channel, has reported a record 20 million visits, compared with the usual 800,000. The producers of Touche pas à mon poste ("Hands Off My TV") a popular talk show on French television, have combed Le Vernet in search of people keen to air their opinions.

The photo of Émile with his blond hair and mischievous smile, a dandelion tucked behind his ear, has been broadcast around the world. A British newspaper drew a parallel between the case and a BBC drama, The Missing (2014), the fictional tale of the disappearance of a little boy in the French countryside. Facebook discussion groups are multiplying, full of people praying and playing amateur detective, as well as criticising the police investigators.

You have 83.85% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.