Mother and Partner Detained After Two French Siblings Abandoned on Portuguese Road

Overview

• Two French siblings aged three and five were found alone and crying on a rural stretch of Estrada Nacional 253 between Alcácer do Sal and Comporta after being left blindfolded, local residents told the Guarda Nacional Republicana on Tuesday.
• The children's mother, Marine Rousseau, and her partner, Marc Ballabriga, were located in Fátima and detained and the Ministério Público de Grândola has delegated the criminal inquiry to the Polícia Judiciária for evidence gathering.
• Authorities say the boys had only small backpacks with water, biscuits, fruit and spare clothes and no identity documents, and investigators used CCTV footage, mobile-phone tracking and AI-assisted communication to link the case to a disappearance report in France and trace the adults.
• The children were medically examined, released and placed with a temporary foster family while French judicial authorities have initiated legal steps to repatriate them and Portuguese officials say the biological father must be vetted before any handover.
• Prosecutors are investigating possible crimes including abandonment and exposure to danger, noting reports that the stepfather has a prior conviction for domestic violence in 2010 and experts warn the blindfolding and abandonment pose a serious risk of lasting trauma for the children.