ParisAP —
A 9-year-old boy has been rescued after living trapped in his father’s utility van in eastern France since 2024, local prosecutors said. The child is hospitalized and the father is in custody.
Police were alerted by neighbors to “children’s voices” coming from a van on Monday in the village of Hagenbach near the Swiss-German border, prosecutor Nicholas Heitz said in a statement on Saturday.
After breaking open the van, officers found the child “lying naked in a fetal position, covered with a blanket, near excrement on a pile of trash,” Heitz said.
The boy was clearly malnourished and unable to walk after sitting for so long, the statement said.
Prosecutors said the boy’s father told investigators he put the child in his truck in November 2024 “to protect the boy,” because his partner wanted to send the then-7-year-old to a psychiatric hospital.
Heitz said there were no medical records showing the boy suffered from mental illness before his disappearance and that he was doing well in school.
Prosecutors said the boy told investigators there were “huge difficulties” with his father’s partner and that he believed his father had “no choice” but to lock him up. He said he has not taken a shower since 2024.
The father was charged with preliminary charges including kidnapping and taken into custody. Prosecutors said the boy’s partner denied he was in the van. She was charged with preliminary charges including failure to assist a minor in danger and released under judicial supervision.
The boy’s 12-year-old sister and his father’s partner’s 10-year-old daughter were placed in social care.
Prosecutors are investigating whether anyone else knew about the boy’s detention.
Friends and family told investigators they believed the boy was in a psychiatric hospital. Teachers were told he had been transferred to another school, the prosecutor’s office said.
Authorities have not released the names of the victims or their relatives.
Hagenbach residents contacted by The Associated Press on Saturday expressed shock over the incident and said they did not know the boy’s whereabouts but did not want to discuss details.
Prosecutors declined further comment to The Associated Press pending further investigation.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
