French police are doing a "final sweep" seek for a lacking two-year-old boy within the French Alps.

Today's search will proceed till 4pm native time (3pm UK time) and entails 50 officers who will search a 1.8km (1.1 miles) stretch of highway close to the place the boy's grandparents stay.

The boy, named solely as Emile, was last seen walking down the road close to his grandparents' home by two witnesses on Saturday afternoon, in keeping with authorities.

They stay in a distant mountain village with solely two dozen inhabitants simply exterior Le Vernet within the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence between Grenoble and Nice.

On Wednesday, police mentioned it was ending its "large-scale" seek for the boy, and as a substitute shifting on to an exploration of the data they've collected thus far.

In an announcement given to AFP news company on Wednesday, Remy Avon, the prosecutor of Digne-les-Bains, mentioned: "The judicial investigation into the causes of the disappearance will continue, in particular by analysing the considerable mass of information and elements collected over the past four days."

He additionally conceded there have been only a few clues concerning the toddler's disappearance, and added {that a} blood stain present in a automotive had been despatched for evaluation however was found to be from an animal.

Previously, police and gendarmes had entered each constructing within the small settlement the place Emile went lacking - and a few 500 volunteers helped with the search, trying within the forests and fields that encompass the village.

Mr Avon added that the likelihood Emile went lacking alone wouldn't be dominated out, "even if this probability is very small".

The native mayor, Francois Balique, earlier instructed French TV: "The family was getting ready to leave the house to go on an outing. He took advantage of this fleeting moment to leave.

"His grandparents realised he was now not there after they went to place him within the automotive."

BFM TV mentioned authorities had been utilizing a recorded voice message by Emile's mom, broadcast over loudspeakers from a helicopter, within the space of the search.