Late on Tuesday evening, a couple driving along National Road 253 in the rural area of Monte Novo do Sul, in the municipality of Alcácer do Sal, made a startling discovery: two young French children, aged three and five, alone and in distress. The children, who were crying and disoriented, were found by Artur Quintas, a local resident, who immediately alerted authorities.
According to Quintas, speaking to SIC Notícias, the older child explained that their parents had taken them to the forest under the pretense of playing a game. “To trick the children, their parents blindfolded them and left them in the forest to play a game. They told them to go and look for a toy,” he recounted. The children were carrying backpacks containing a bottle of water, a piece of fruit, a packet of biscuits, and a change of clothes—details that led Quintas to suspect they had been deliberately abandoned.
Quintas took the children to his home, where they remained until the National Republican Guard (GNR) arrived. Around 23:00, they were transported to Setúbal Hospital for medical examination. They are now under the care of the French Embassy, working in coordination with Portugal’s National Commission for the Promotion of the Rights and Protection of Children and Young People (CPCJ).
Investigation Links to France
Portuguese media, including CNN Portugal, reported on Wednesday night that the children are believed to have been abandoned by their mother. The police investigation is reportedly connecting this incident to a case in France, where a woman is thought to have abducted her two children and had been sought for 15 days. According to this account, the mother took the children from their father, who resides in France, and then entered Portuguese territory via Bragança.
The case, first reported by the newspaper Correio da Manhã, has shocked Portugal, though many details remain unclear. Authorities are working to confirm the mother’s identity and whereabouts, and to determine whether she acted alone or with accomplices. The children are safe and receiving support from diplomatic and child protection services.
This incident highlights the challenges of cross-border family disputes and child protection within the European Union, where differing national laws and police cooperation mechanisms can complicate cases. Portugal and France, both EU member states, are coordinating through Europol and bilateral channels to resolve the situation.
For more on child welfare initiatives in Portugal, see how Portuguese volunteers are creating audio story collections for blind children. Meanwhile, broader European trends in family law and child protection continue to evolve, as seen in the ongoing debate over digital platforms’ impact on minors, such as in the case of French families suing TikTok for algorithmic 'abuse of weakness'.
