Kenneth Glad
A criminal inquiry in eastern France has begun after two young French children were discovered walking beside a rural road in Portugal. Police and child welfare officials in both countries are now handling the case.
The prosecutors in the town of Colmar, France, opened an inquiry into suspected child abandonment after the children, a five-year-old boy and his three-year-old sister, were found Tuesday evening near National Road 253 outside Alcácer do Sal, according to Le Parisien.
The case now involves French investigators, Portugal’s National Republican Guard and child protection services.
Mother disappeared earlier this month
According to French newspaper, the children’s 41-year-old mother disappeared earlier this month without informing relatives or authorities.
Prosecutor Jean Richert told the outlet she had vanished “without explanation” while traveling with the two children. Family members later reported the disappearance to police after being unable to contact her.
Investigators traced movements believed to be linked to the woman through southern France, Spain and Portugal.
The children’s father, who is separated from the mother, later contacted police voluntarily.
“He is like everyone else, he does not understand,” Richert said.
Driver spotted children near road
Portuguese outlets cited by TV 2 reported that Alexandre Quintas noticed the children while driving Tuesday evening and turned back to help.
Quintas said the older child told him that he and his sister had become lost in the forest after their parents left without them.
CNN Portugal said that the children were crying and calling for their father when they were found.
SIC Notícias reported that each child was carrying a small backpack containing clothes, biscuits, fruit and water.
“When I saw the way the backpacks were packed, I understood they had been abandoned,” Quintas told SIC Notícias.
Children described a game
Portuguese media said the children later described being taken into a wooded area and told they were playing a game.
According to SIC Notícias, the children said they had been blindfolded and instructed to search for a toy.
Quintas told the broadcaster that the children’s account suggested they had been tricked with the game before being left there.
CNN Portugal reported that the mother had allegedly taken the children from France and crossed into Portugal through Bragança. The broadcaster also reported that another child, aged 16, had been left behind in France before the trip.
Portuguese authorities took custody
After the children were brought to safety, Quintas contacted the police. Portugal’s National Republican Guard later took charge of the case.
“I confirm that two minor children were found,” Major Joao Gaspar said, according to Le Parisien.
The children were later examined by doctors and placed under protection with assistance from Portuguese child welfare services and French diplomatic officials.
Portuguese prosecutors also opened an urgent procedure through a family and minors court.
Gaspar cautioned that investigators have not publicly concluded whether the children were deliberately abandoned.
“All hypotheses are on the table,” he said.
The mother’s location is still unknown. Officials have not publicly established who left the children near the road or why they were taken from France to Portugal.
Sources: TV2, Le Parisien, CNN Portugal, SIC Notícias
