The newborn baby kidnapped by its parents in France on Monday night has been found alive and with its parents in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, Dutch police and the Bergen prosecutor’s office confirmed on Friday.
Earlier, their car had been found in Charleroi.
Santiago was 17 days old when his parents, aged 23 and 25, took him from the maternity ward of the Robert Ballanger Hospital in Aulnay-sous-Bois near Paris on Monday evening. He had been born eight weeks premature and was in need of constant medical care.
It soon became clear that the parents had crossed the border into Belgium with the child. The Belgian police and Child Focus launched a Child Alert, an exceptional tracking message for children in serious danger. European arrest warrants for the parents followed on Friday morning.
Mons prosecutor’s office confirmed on Friday evening that Santiago had been found alive in a hotel in Amsterdam. Dutch medical services are taking care of the child.
According to prosecutor Vincent Macq, the parents were traced thanks to telephone searches. Macq said there was good cooperation between the French, Belgian and Dutch police in the case.
The public prosecutor’s office was scheduled to give further details at a press conference in Mons on Saturday morning at 9.30 a.m.
