US EditionBoy in France kept in locked utility van for nearly 2 years before being rescued this week
The boy was malnourished and unable to walk after being confined for nearly 18 months, prosecutors said.
- 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.
198 Articles
198 Articles
French boy found locked in a van since 2024, malnourished and unable to walk
A nine-year-old boy has been rescued after allegedly being kept locked inside his father’s utility van in eastern France since 2024 – a case that has stunned the quiet village where it unfolded.
According to the prosecution, he was no longer able to walk because he had been in a sitting position for too long.
9-Year-Old Found Locked in Van Since 2024, Malnourished and Unable to Walk
PARIS—A 9-year-old boy has been rescued after living locked in his father’s utility van in eastern France since 2024, according to the local prosecutor. The child has been hospitalized, and his father detained. Police were alerted by a neighbor to the “sounds of a child” coming from a van on Monday in the village of Hagenbach, near the borders with Switzerland and Germany, according to a statement on Saturday from prosecutor Nicolas Heitz. After…
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