MARSEILLE, March 27, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Police custody over the grandparents of Emile Soleil, a French toddler who went missing nearly two years ago, was lifted Thursday and they will be released, their lawyers said.

Philippe Vedovini was detained with his wife, Anne, since Tuesday in connection with the death of their two-year-old grandson, who went missing from their home in a remote part of France between Aix-en-Provence and Aubagne in July 2023.

No trace of Emile Soleil was found until the end of March last year when a hiker in the mountainous area came across the skull and teeth of a child not far from their home.

Late Wednesday night, the lawyer of Anne Vedovini announced that her client's custody had been lifted. Her husband's lawyer also said around dawn Thursday that the same measure was also applied to Philippe.

"After 17 hours of questioning today, the police custody is lifted," said Isabelle Colombani, Philippe's lawyer, as she left the police station in Marseille shortly before 5 am (0600 GMT).

"The investigators did their job. We could see that a tremendous amount of work was done," she said, adding that her client "answered all" the questions.

Julien Pinelli, Anne's lawyer, said that his client "want to participate in what could naturally be seen as an ordeal".

"She did so because she felt it was also her contribution to this investigation -- the answers of which she is now awaiting," Pinelli said.

Two of the Vedovinis' adult children were also detained.

All four were detained for murder and concealment of a corpse, Aix-en-Provence prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon had said early Tuesday.

The announcements from the grandparents' lawyers come ahead of a press conference on Thursday noon (1100 GMT) by Blachon who had said he would "discuss the status of the investigation".

Philippe Vedovini and his wife are staunch Catholics and have 10 children, all of whom were home-schooled.

Emile was last seen walking alone on a street in Le Vernet, 1,200 metres (4,000 feet) up in the French Alps, in the late afternoon of July 8, 2023. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt, white shorts and tiny hiking shoes.

A massive search failed to find any sign of the boy.

Nine months later, a hiker discovered his skull and teeth 1.7 kilometres (1.1 miles) from the village.

Police later found more bones and items of the boy's clothing.