US EditionBoy in France kept in locked utility van for nearly 2 years before being rescued this week
The boy was found malnourished and unable to walk, and prosecutors said they are investigating whether others knew he was confined.
- Police discovered a 9-year-old boy living in a utility van in Hagenbach, France, after a neighbor reported "sounds of a child" coming from the vehicle on Monday.
- According to Prosecutor Nicolas Heitz, the father claimed he placed the child in the truck in November 2024 to "protect him" from his partner, who wanted to send the boy to a psychiatric hospital.
- Inside the van, police found the child "lying in a fetal position, naked, covered by a blanket on top of a mound of trash and near excrement," and noted he was malnourished and unable to walk.
- Authorities detained the father on preliminary kidnapping charges, while the partner was charged with failure to help a minor in danger and released under judicial supervision.
- Officials continue investigating whether others were aware of the boy's location, as teachers were told he had transferred schools; authorities placed his sister and the partner's daughter in social services care.
122 Articles
122 Articles
Boy, 7, Was Allegedly Locked in a Van by Father 'to Protect Him.' Over a Year Later, the Child Is Malnourished and Unable to Walk
Police found a naked and malnourished boy inside a utility van on Monday, April 6. The child could not walk after allegedly being locked inside his father's vehicle for over a year, CBS News and the BBC reported, citing prosecutor Nicolas Heitz.
French police this week freed a 9-year-old boy who had been locked inside a van since 2024. The boy was found naked and in a fetal position, French authorities report. He was covered with a blanket and lying on "a pile of rubbish, right next to excrement." The 43-year-old father and his 37-year-old partner have been charged. The van was parked in the courtyard of a residential complex in the town of Hagenbach, a village of fewer than 800 inhabit…
A 9-year-old Found Locked in a Utility Van since 2024 ...
French police have freed a 9-year-old boy who had been held captive in a van for over a year. The boy was found naked, malnourished, and in a fetal position on a pile of rubbish inside the vehicle, French media report.
A nine-year-old boy who had been trapped in his father's van for 2024 was rescued this week in eastern France, a local prosecutor said. The child has been hospitalized and his father is in custody. The boy was apparently malnourished and unable to walk after being confined to a sitting position for so long.
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