Portugal Opens Child Protection Case for 2 French Brothers Found Abandoned
Updated
Updated · Portugal Resident · May 21
Portugal Opens Child Protection Case for 2 French Brothers Found Abandoned
11 articles · Updated · Portugal Resident · May 21
Two French brothers, aged 3 and 5, remain in Portuguese state care after authorities opened a child-protection case following their abandonment near Alcácer do Sal.
Investigators say the boys entered Portugal on May 11 with their mother and stepfather, and their father reported them missing in France three days later.
Police are tracing the family’s movements, circulating an image of the car used to enter Portugal and examining how long the children wandered alone before being found by motorists on Monday evening.
The mother and stepfather were later arrested in Fátima, while Portuguese prosecutors, GNR and PJ police handle the case with support from the French embassy.
The boys’ father is reportedly traveling to Portugal to take them home as investigators still try to establish why the couple drove to Portugal and abandoned them.
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After such a profound trauma, can two abandoned toddlers ever truly heal and trust again?