Malnourished Boy Found in Car After Two Years

A nine-year-old boy was discovered earlier this week in eastern France, lying in a fetal position, having been locked in a car for two years. The incident was reported by local Prosecutor Nicholas Heitz on Saturday. It appears that the boy, who was unable to walk after such a long confinement, was found after a neighbor heard a child’s voice coming from a van.

Authorities were alerted on Monday in the village of Hagenbach, located near the Swiss-German border. Upon breaking into the vehicle, they found the boy “lying naked in a fetal position, covered with a blanket, on a pile of garbage, near excrement,” Heitz stated. Disturbingly, the child mentioned he hadn’t had a shower since 2024.

The boy’s father has since been charged with kidnapping. Prosecutors indicated that, in November 2024, the father claimed he locked his son in the van to “protect” him from a partner who allegedly wanted to send him to a psychiatric facility. However, the prosecutors noted there were no medical records to support this assessment of the boy’s mental health, and that he had been performing well in school.

When the boy was reported missing, his teachers were informed he had been transferred to another school. Unfortunately, his father’s partner, unaware of the child’s situation, is also facing charges for failing to assist a minor in danger.

Friends and family believed the boy was in a psychiatric hospital. Meanwhile, the boy’s 12-year-old sister and his father’s partner’s 10-year-old daughter are now in the care of social services.

The boy has been taken to the hospital for treatment, and he shared that he felt his father had no choice but to keep him locked away due to “huge difficulties” with his partner.