Ex-CIA psychic claims he identified area where missing toddler Emile Soleil’s body was found & immediately told police
AN ex-CIA psychic has told The Sun how he identified the area where the body of a two-year-old was found — in a mysterious case that is gripping France.
Major Ed Dames, who was in a secret project that inspired the movie The Men Who Stare At Goats, said it took him two days to trace the spot using “remote viewing”.
Tragic Emile Soleil vanished in the apparently idyllic French Alpine hamlet of Le Vernet last July.
Now his remains have been discovered in a field that had been scoured for clues shortly afterwards — leaving locals wondering if they had been removed by his killer, and then replaced.
Maj Dames, 74, showed The Sun emails he sent police in December saying Emile was “located at, or in proximity to” a field that turned out to be immediately next to the site.
“He said he had been alerted by a member of the public and added: “It took me two days. I jumped on it immediately. I knew this is a serious case and the sense of urgency is high.”
The volunteer searchers have been there, I’m sure. The gendarmes couldn’t have missed him with the dogs.
Mayor François Balique
The major developed his para-normal detective skills as operations and training officer at the joint CIA and Army Psychic Intelligence Unit. The now-defunct program inspired a 2009 movie starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey.
Emile’s skull along with bones were spotted by a hiker in the Auches Ravine on Saturday.
The area is just over a mile from where the boy was last seen. Mayor François Balique said: “There are people who regularly use the path nearby. I used it last week. The volunteer searchers have been there, I’m sure. The gendarmes couldn’t have missed him with the dogs.
“There was even a logging there in the autumn. The wood cutters didn’t see anything either. It’s incomprehensible.”
Resident Gilles Thézan said: “I say that the little one died and that someone went to hide him there much later.
“Now that we have found little Emile, the police will be able to speed up their investigation.”
‘Village of the damned’
The toddler had been left in the care of his grandfather, 58-year-old Philippe Vedovini, while his parents took a break. A witness reported seeing Mr Vedovini cutting wood outside his house at the time Emile is thought to have wandered off.
Mr Vedovini is a former monk who quit to marry. Earlier this month it emerged he was questioned in 2018 as part of an active criminal inquiry into historic child abuse at a school where he worked.
He was said to have admitted administering “somewhat harsh” physical discipline, but insisted he had never broken the law.
He and his wife brought up ten children, including Emile’s mother Marie. She and husband Colomban Soleil have also been probed by police over their extreme-right wing political background.
In 2015 Vernet was the scene of 150 deaths when an Airbus A320 was crashed by its co-pilot, who had been treated for suicidal tendencies.
In 2008 a cafe boss was murdered by a customer. One resident said: “Everybody is saying it — Vernet feels like a village of the damned.”
Timeline of the search for Emile
July 8, 2023 – Emile Soleil vanishes from his grandparents’ home in a small village near Le Vernet in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
July 8 to 14, 2023 – Police lead a huge search that uncovers no trace of the toddler
July 14, 2023 – Cops call off the search and the investigation goes cold
March 30, 2024 – A walker finds bones near to the village that Emile disappeared from
March 31, 2024 – Investigators confirm the remains belong to the missing French two-year-old and a renewed criminal probe begins