Santiago Kidnapping: Parents Flee to Another European Country ?

Santiago, a premature baby born 19 days ago, presumably abducted by his parents three days ago, has still not been found this Thursday, October 24, but the child's chances of survival outside of a hospital are very limited. A European arrest warrant is required against the parents.

More than two days have passed since Santiago was abducted from a maternity hospital in Aulnay-sous-Bois, in Seine-Saint-Denis, but the child, aged just 19 days, has still not been found as of Thursday, October 24. The baby, a very premature baby requiring constant medical care, was abducted on the night of Monday to Tuesday at Robert Ballanger Hospital and his parents are the main suspects. Investigators are still looking for the couple, whose trail was found in Belgium thanks to CCTV footage and the discovery of the vehicle used by the two individuals to leave France for Charleroi. The French authorities are continuing the investigation in cooperation with the European and especially Belgian services, which have issued a national search notice to find the child.

Santiago's abduction puts the child's life in danger. Authorities have indicated that after 12 hours without care, the risk of death increases for the premature baby. Diagnosis is more difficult to establish, but every hour spent outside of a medical facility is indeed dangerous for the child. According to information from BFMTV, Santiago, due to his premature birth, was unable to breastfeed or bottle-feed when he was in the maternity ward, and premature babies need a suitable diet to continue their development. They are also more vulnerable to infectious risks, which are very numerous in This time of year, they sometimes have to take certain medications and need to be treated whether it is for the verification of vital signs and the renewal of care.

Who are the parents of Santiago, suspected of the kidnapping ?

Santiago's parents are the main suspects in the kidnapping. They are a 23-year-old man, “dressed in dark jeans, a white T-shirt, a light blue denim jacket and a black overcoat”, and a 25-year-old woman, “dressed in a white sweater, a light blue sleeveless jacket and a green skirt”. The couple “could have reached Belgium with the baby during the night” after leaving the hospital by car, the Bobigny public prosecutor said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon. This lead was confirmed by the discovery on Wednesday morning of the car in which the couple had been filmed by urban and road surveillance cameras in the Charleroi region.

Both of Santiago's parents are known to the police. The father was convicted of gang violence and the mother is known to be a drug user. According to a source close to the case cited by Le Parisien, the parents allegedly abducted their child, removing him from essential medical care, for fear of having custody of the child taken away from them. No such measures had been taken before the abduction, but it had been “considered”. In the event that Santiago is found alive, the couple of Serbian origin and from the Roma community will, due to the abduction, automatically lose custody of the infant until a judge rules on their case.

While the parents are still being sought, five people were arrested on the morning of October 22, aged between 16 and 29. They were all taken into custody for “organized gang kidnapping of a 15-year-old minor”. And two of them are said to have played a major role in the kidnapping of Santiago.

Anyone with information, who witnessed something or who has located the child is asked to immediately call 0800363268 or send an email to alerte-enlevement@gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr. In Belgium, the following numbers have also been set up: 0800/30 300 and for reports from abroad 0032 2 554 44 88. The authorities remind that it is not advisable to intervene yourself, but to warn them as soon as possible.

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19:21 – Does little Santiago still have a chance of being found alive ?

&During his press conference this Tuesday, the public prosecutor of Bobigny, Eric Mathais, declared that despite his parents' escape, “there is still hope of finding the baby alive”. Let us recall that Santiago was born prematurely and that he is being tried in danger since his release from the hospital.

18:22 – Does the couple have any children other than Santiago ?

The question was put to the public prosecutor, but he did not respond in order to preserve the continuation of the investigation. The fear of the child being placed in care, which could have motivated the parents to flee with Santiago, raises questions about possible precedents known to the couple: has he already had children who would have been placed ? The question still remains unanswered.

17:40 – Decision to place the child before or after abduction: explanations

“There was no indication [that Santiago's parents] were going to kidnap their child and put him in danger,” the public prosecutor said, adding that “no report had been made under the heading of child endangerment.” However, “the parents had an interview with a multidisciplinary team from the hospital on the day of the abduction and it is therefore likely that they may have feared that the hospital would transmit a report of a minor in danger and that a decision to place the child would be taken”.

“A provisional placement order, i.e. urgently, for the infant was taken by the Bobigny public prosecutor's office on the morning of 22 October 2024”, i.e. after the child's abduction, the prosecutor added. “This decision provides a legal framework for placing the child, upon discovery, in a suitable medical facility even if the parents refuse”.

16:32 – Pre-trial detention requested against three people

The two men still in custody who are waiting to be brought before a judge for indictment are also subject to a request for pre-trial detention. They are suspected of “organized gang kidnapping of a minor under 15 years old and not of reporting ill-treatment or deprivation inflicted on a minor aged 15.” The third person in custody, a woman, is being prosecuted for “failure to report a crime, with a request for placement under judicial supervision”.

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16:20 – Santiago and his parents still not found

“Santiago and Santiago's parents have still not been found in Belgium,” confirmed the Bobigny public prosecutor. “At the present time, we do not have any precise information on the location of the parents and Santiago. Investigations are continuing in Belgium and France, and all leads are still being explored,” he added. specifying that the possibility of an escape to another European country has not been ruled out.

16:18 – The prosecutor calls Santiago's parents to “take him to a hospital”

Éric Mathais launched an appeal to Santiago's parents, urging them to take him to a suitable medical facility. "If they hear me, they must, for the sake of their baby, take him immediately to the nearest hospital. And I urge all those in contact with the parents, " convince them to take Santiago to a suitable medical facility.”

The public prosecutor also mentioned the risks incurred by parents, recalling that sentences are flexible and can be reduced if they act for the good of the child and make themselves known to the authorities.

“Arrest warrant requests (against the parents) are being made to allow the issuance of a European arrest warrant and a wider dissemination for the purpose of arrest by Interpol,” announced the public prosecutor of Bobigny. The aim is to disseminate information related to this kidnapping throughout Europe and to allow an arrest across the continent. The parents' profile as travellers makes the hypothesis of an escape to a country other than Belgium possible.

16:10 – Details of the convictions of Santiago's parents

Santiago's parents, born in France and of French nationality, lived in Noisy-le-Sec, the prosecutor said. They appear to be part of the travelling community. The magistrate confirmed that the two individuals are known to the police and justice services and specified the criminal records of the two people. The child's father has been convicted 4 times: for burglary and weapon theft by the Austrian courts in January 2021, for thefts aggravated by three circumstances and criminal associations in Strasbourg in September 2001, for drug use and burglary by the Versailles Criminal Court in January 2003, and finally for burglary and driving a vehicle under the influence of drugs in Melun in April 2024.

As for the mother, she has been convicted three times: for burglary in Aix-en-Provence in December 2019, for receiving stolen goods in 2023 in Melun and for burglary in Melun also in April 2024.

16:05 – Two police custody lifted, three people brought before the courts

Of the five people placed in police custody, two will be released according to prosecutor Eric Mathais. Three others, all from the parents' entourage, “will be presented to an investigating judge after their police custody, in particular for “kidnapping, sequestration and arbitrary detention of a minor aged 15 in an organised gang”. Provisional detention has been requested against these three people. It involves a woman unknown to the police, and two men, a minor and an adult, who admitted to having travelled to Belgium and back with Santiago's parents. The minor is known to the police and the adult has a criminal record with 3 convictions.

15:58 – The hypothesis of the parents' fear of placing the child

The prosecutor confirmed that investigators have “little information on the parents' motivations.” He said Santiago's parents “were not opposed to the care” given to their child because the medical care was “understood and accepted.” He added that a meeting was to be held at the hospital on the child's care by his parents and that because of this meeting, the parents could have feared that their child would be placed in a hospital. “This is one of the hypotheses” and the one that seems the most “probable”, but there is no precise element to confirm this possibility.

“There was no report under the title of “educational assistance” had the child's abduction,” the prosecutor specified.

Santiago's parents “still had parental authority over their child before the abduction,” the Bobigny public prosecutor said. But”the abduction of a child by parents remains legally founded when their behavior constitutes an abuse of parental authority,” the magistrate added. However, by removing their child from medical care that was necessary for his survival, Santiago's parents “abused their parental authority.”

15:44 – Specific medical needs for the child's survival

Santiago is a very premature baby born at 32 weeks of pregnancy, eight weeks before term. Medically treated, he had to “be warmed by an incubator, under monitoring and a gastric tube, assisted in his feeding with a specific milk for premature babies”, listed the prosecutor Eric Mathais.

Bobigny Public Prosecutor Eric Mathais gives a press conference on the progress of the investigation into Santiago's kidnapping. The authorities are “extremely concerned about Santiago's health and life,” assures the magistrate, who ensures that “priority number 1 has been and remains to find Santiago to make sure he is okay”.

15:01 – Those in custody are members of Santiago's father's family

Five people are still in custody this Thursday, October 24 for “organized gang kidnapping of a minor under 15”, a charge that allows for custody to be extended to 96 hours, or four days. Two of the individuals are suspected of having made a round trip between France and Belgium on the night of Monday to Tuesday, the same night as Santiago's kidnapping. These five individuals are: two brothers of Santiago's father, a half-brother and the partners of two of these men.

12:56 – “We're looking for them everywhere” : the concern of Santiago's mother's relatives

While Santiago and his parents are still missing, the family of the child's mother confided their concern on TF1 on Wednesday evening. “We're looking for them everywhere, we're trying to reach her at all costs, we've been to all their addresses. We're very worried about the baby,” declare the relatives of the mother suspected of having kidnapped the baby. premature in a maternity hospital in Seine-Saint-Denis.

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