Portugal police detain French woman suspected of abandoning two children
Details of the Incident
Discovery of the Children
LISBON, May 21 (Reuters) - Portugal's National Guard (GNR) said on Thursday it had detained a French woman suspected of abandoning her two young children, who were found earlier this week walking alone along a road in a small Portuguese town.
International Search Efforts
French authorities had issued a Europe-wide request to help find the woman and children, aged 4 and 5, after their father reported them missing from their home in the town of Colmar, eastern France.
Location and Circumstances
Portugal's Judicial Police (PJ) said in a statement earlier on Thursday that the children were discovered on Tuesday along a road in the town of Alcacer do Sal, in the Alentejo region, apparently lost after being abandoned by their mother, who they did not identify.
Detention and Investigation
GNR, a gendarmerie-style police force, said in a statement it had detained the 41-year-old woman and a 55-year-old man in the town of Fatima, "both suspected of abandoning the two children found alone".
Legal Proceedings
The woman was being investigated in the judicial court of Grandola for the crimes of exposure to danger and of abandonment, the PJ said.
Reporting and Editing
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Victoria Waldersee, Sharon Singleton)
