A couple, alleged to have abandoned their children in a wooded area under the guise of a game, were peacefully sitting in a café at the time of their arrest. Marine Rousseau and Marc Ballabriga were apprehended by authorities two days after reportedly leaving their five-year-old son Barthélémy and three-year-old Zacharie alone in the rural Portuguese countryside. The kids were found distressed, with only a water bottle and some fruit, along a road near Alcacer do Sal.
Following a search by law enforcement, the couple’s vehicle was located outside a café in Fátima, about 112 miles away from where the children were discovered. Detectives disclosed that Rousseau, 41, and Ballabriga, 55, were casually seated at the café for hours before being apprehended. The suspects, accused of child abuse, endangerment, and abandonment, were described as uncooperative and reserved by military police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Canatário.
The children’s father, who had reported them missing from their home in France ten days prior, is en route to Portugal to reclaim the boys after they were placed in temporary care. On the day of the incident, Rousseau allegedly tricked her sons into a game involving a “hidden toy,” leaving them blindfolded as they dug in the soil. When the children removed their blindfolds, they found themselves abandoned by their mother, stepfather, and the car.
Several hours later, the kids were discovered by Alexandre Quintas, a local baker and father-of-nine, who took them to his bakery for care. Alexandre and his mother Eugénia Quintas were able to communicate with the boys with the help of a local doctor who spoke French. The five-year-old explained that they were left alone in the “forest” by their parents and had only an orange, a pear, and a water bottle each.
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