An alarm has been raised in the French authorities for the disappearance of a 2.5-year-old boy, who has been missing since last Saturday.

The little boy disappeared from the village of Le Vernet, which is located between the regions of Grenoble and Nice, as reported by the Guardian.

“The family was getting ready to leave the house to go on an excursion, and they took advantage of this fleeting moment of inattention to leave,” Francois Balic, the village’s mayor, told French television.

His grandparents realized he was no longer there when they went to put him in the car to leave. At the same time, his grandfather states that for his age, he is a particularly good walker, and that there is no indication that he was kidnapped.

“It is a small village with about 20 houses and we can see them all. He could have traveled some distance and maybe he was lost or hiding,” he added.

As soon as the family realized that two-year-old Émile had disappeared, they immediately notified the police, who launched a massive operation to locate the little boy.

Search and rescue teams, by helicopter, drones equipped with thermal cameras along with sniffer dogs have combed the area, but no trace of him has yet been found.

Locals said the valley in the village, surrounded by forests, is popular with hikers, with the prosecutor reporting that two people saw the boy leave his grandparents’ house, and “then we lose track of him.”

This morning the search zone was widened, with the gendarmerie appealing for witnesses who may have seen the boy.