Chilling CCTV footage has revealed a French couple on their way to abandon their young children in a woodland in Portugal. The mother, 41, and stepfather, 55, were both arrested yesterday for allegedly dumping their young boys, aged five and four, in a woods hundreds of miles from where they grew up.
Discovery of the Boys
The young boys were found wandering down a rural road between the Portuguese towns of Alcacer do Sal and Comporta on Tuesday evening at around 7pm. The parents were arrested in the city of Fatima, 124 miles north of Alcacer do Sal. The brothers told the local couple that found them that their parents had abandoned them on the N235 road with nothing more than a change of clothes, two pieces of fruit and two bottles of water.
Investigation Launched
After the boys were taken to hospital, an investigation was launched to understand how on earth they came to Portugal. New footage obtained by local media showed the boys innocently playing in their parents' car at a petrol station in Miranda do Douro, near the border with Spain, after they arrived in Portugal.
The stepfather appears to be driving the grey car as he pulled it into the petrol station. Both he and the mother, from Colmar in eastern France, were seen getting out of the vehicle before walking over to an attendant. The boys could be seen clambering around in the grey car as the parents filled the car up. In the back, one of the boys was seen clambering around the front seats, while the other leaned to the front of the car in the gap between the seats.
Timeline of Events
TVI, a Portuguese broadcaster, reported that the footage was taken at 6.16pm on May 11 - the same day the family arrived in Portugal via Braganca on the Spanish border. They crossed the border after the mother disappeared with the two children around two weeks ago before setting off on the road trip to Portugal.
The French woman's mother, the boys' maternal grandmother, reported the children's disappearance to police, telling them they had been abducted by their mother. The boys' biological father, who is separated from their mother, also filed a child abduction report to police. Colmar prosecutor Jean Richert told Le Parisien on Thursday: 'He's like everyone else, he doesn't understand.'
The Journey to Portugal
After arriving in the country, the family then travelled more than 310 miles, first going to the Miranda do Corvo region before heading further south to Alcacer do Sal. The couple and their children stayed in a hotel in the town, located around 12 miles from where they were found.
On Tuesday, the young boys were found by a local couple, Eugenia and Artur Quintas. Artur said: 'They were crying, they were terrified. They were crying and calling for their father.' He added that they were both covered in dirt and bruises, and one had hurt his knee. Neither boy had any identifying documents on them.
Rescue and Medical Care
The Quintases took the young children to their home and called the police, who quickly arrived and took them to Setubal Hospital for a full health assessment. There, they were given a clean bill of health. A toxicology report revealed the boys had not been drugged by the parents. After questioning them, they were able to figure out that the boys had actually come from France.
The boys told authorities that their parents told them they were going to play a game to 'drive away the devil'. The couple had blindfolded them and took them to a wooded area, before telling them they could only remove their eye covers once they had found a knife the couple had buried in the ground and used it to cut them off. The boys were digging around in the dirt for several minutes before the older boy took their blindfolds off. To their shock, the boys realised they were all alone.
Still believing that they were playing a game, the boys wandered the area for several hours through a part of Portugal that can reach up to 30C during the day at this time of year. Artur told local media: 'The oldest one told me that he and his brother had gotten lost in the forest and that their father and mother had left without taking them.' He added: 'I realised right away that they had been abandoned by the backpacks. When I saw the way the backpacks were packed, I knew they had been abandoned.'
Arrests and Legal Proceedings
On Thursday, Portuguese police announced that they had arrested a 55-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman 'linked to the incident involving two minor children found alone near a public road in the municipality of Alcacer do Sal.' They were arrested at a cafe terrace in Fatima on suspicion of abuse, endangering others, and abandonment.
The boys were placed into foster care after information about the boys requested from the French embassy in Portugal revealed they had no blood relatives in the country. French authorities are now set to process the boys' return to their country of origin. French police are already aware of the stepfather, who is believed to suffer from a psychiatric disorder. French prosecutors are opening a child neglect case.
Psychological Impact
Experts fear that the children may suffer long-term psychological harm as a result of being abandoned. Psychologist Melanie Tavares told CNN Portugal: 'It's the feeling of abandonment, of being lost, unprotected, of not having familiar resources to ultimately soothe the fear.' She said being left in the woods may affect their emotional security and cause sleep difficulties, eating disorders, irritability and isolation.
Tavares said: 'This will obviously bring, in the coming days, some symptoms to which those caring for these children will have to be very attentive. We are talking about several situations, namely great difficulty in sleeping, falling asleep and maintaining sleep, changes in normal routines, including eating, irritability or even almost permanent isolation, as well as great difficulty, often, in accepting rules and the context in which they are, because none of this is familiar to these children.' She added that the fact that the parents pretended to be playing a 'game' could result in a significant distrust in parental figures. She said: 'These children will be in constant distress, a great deal of distress from abandonment, and distress from separation. This is a trauma that will remain, just like when we get a tattoo. It stays for life.'
