French Mother Of Boys Abandoned In Portugal Returns To Court

Setúbal, Portugal: A French woman suspected of abandoning her two young boys in Portugal and her partner arrived at court on Saturday for further questioning, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

The 41-year-old woman and the 55-year-old man could potentially be placed in pretrial detention following the hearing in the port city of Setubal as authorities investigate alleged child abuse, endangerment and abandonment.

The boys, aged four and five, were found crying on the side of a road on Tuesday evening by a passing motorist near the resort town of Comporta, where they had been left with backpacks containing food and water but no identity documents, according to Portuguese media.

The couple was arrested Thursday by Portuguese authorities and brought before an investigating judge Friday at the court in Setubal, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of the capital, Lisbon.

They were questioned for several hours at the court in a first session on Friday.

Upon their arrival at the court, the man, identified by authorities as Marc B., had twice shouted "I love you" in French, while the boy's mother, identified as Marine R., hummed a melody.

Shortly after midnight Friday, as Marc B. was leaving the courthouse in a police van, he shouted "Portugal Armageddon" toward journalists gathered outside.

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Reported missing

On Saturday morning, police officers ensured the pair remained inside the vehicle transporting them until it had fully entered the courthouse garage and the doors had closed.

Journalists later caught sight of the couple through a window inside the building.

The children have been placed with a French foster family in Lisbon pending their return to France.

Portuguese authorities said the brothers had been living with their mother in Colmar, in eastern France, while their father had limited and supervised visitation rights.

French authorities had been searching for the mother and the children since May 11, when the father reported them missing.

The mother of the motorist who found the children told Portuguese media that one of the boys said they had been blindfolded and told to look for a hidden toy.

When they took their blindfolds off, their mother and her car were gone.

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