Horror as boy, 9, found inside van where father kept him locked since 2024 | World | News
Stunned rescuers in France found a nine-year-old boy locked naked in his father’s van since 2024. Police were alerted by a neighbor who reported “children’s voices” coming from a minibus in the French village of Hagenbach, near the border between Switzerland and Germany, on Monday.
The malnourished child was hospitalized and his father was taken into custody, local prosecutor Nicolas Heitz said Saturday. After forcing open the van, cops found the boy “in a fetal position, naked, covered with a blanket, lying on a pile of trash and near feces,” Heitz said.
According to the statement, the child was clearly malnourished and could no longer walk after being in a sitting position for so long.
The prosecutor said the boy’s father told investigators he put the boy in the truck in November 2024 “to protect him” because his partner wanted to send the then-seven-year-old to a psychiatric hospital.
Heitz said there was no medical record that the boy had any psychiatric problems before his disappearance and that he received good grades in school. The boy told investigators that his father was having “major problems” with his partner and that he thought his father “had no choice” but to put him in jail, according to the prosecutor.
He said he hasn’t showered since 2024.
Preliminary kidnapping and other charges were filed against the father and he remained in custody. According to the prosecutor, his partner denied knowledge that the child was in the minibus. He was charged with preliminary charges, including failure to assist a child in danger, and was released under judicial supervision.
The boy’s 12-year-old sister and the 10-year-old daughter of his father’s partner were placed in the care of social services. The prosecutor’s office is investigating whether others knew that the child was taken into custody.
Friends and family told investigators they thought the boy was in a psychiatric clinic. According to the prosecutor’s office, his teachers were told he was transferring to a different school.
Authorities did not release the names of the victim or his relatives.
According to the AP news agency, residents of Hagenbach expressed shock about the incident and said they were unaware of the child’s whereabouts but did not want to discuss the details.
The prosecutor declined to comment further to the AP pending further investigation.
