Shocking food supplies abandoned children on 'fake treasure hunt' were left with
Ben Williams
Featured Image Credit: GNR
The food supplies that two young children were allegedly left with after being abandoned in Portuguese woodland have been revealed.
The two brothers, aged four and five, were found wandering along a rural road between Alcácer do Sal and Comporta on Tuesday evening (19 May), hundreds of miles away from their home in Colmar, eastern France.
Their mother, 41, and stepfather, 55, were arrested two days later in Fátima, around 124 miles away, after Portuguese authorities launched an investigation into how the boys came to be alone.
According to reports, the children had allegedly been taken to a wooded area and told they were playing a game called ‘drive away the devil’.
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Shockingly, they were reportedly left with just two pieces of fruit, two bottles of water, and a change of clothes.
The boys are said to have been blindfolded and told they could only remove the coverings once they had found knives buried in the ground and used them to cut themselves free.
While they still believed they were taking part in the game, their mother and stepfather were accused of leaving the area.
The children were later found by local couple Eugenia and Artur Quintas, who took them home, gave them something to eat, and contacted the police.
Artur told local news: "They were crying, they were terrified. They were crying and calling for their father."
He added: "The oldest one told me that he and his brother had gotten lost in the forest and that their father and mother had left without taking them.”
"I realised right away that they had been abandoned by the backpacks. When I saw the way the backpacks were packed, I knew they had been abandoned."
The boys were taken to Setúbal Hospital for checks after being found, with reports claiming they were covered in dirt and bruises, and that one had injured his knee. A toxicology report reportedly found they had not been drugged.
Shown by the Daily Mail, CCTV footage has since emerged showing the family stopping at a petrol station in Miranda do Douro, near Portugal’s border with Spain, after allegedly entering the country on 11 May.
In the footage, the boys can reportedly be seen inside the car while the two adults get out.
Portuguese authorities later confirmed they had detained a 55-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman in connection with the case.
In a statement, Portugal’s Republican National Guard said, as reported by LADbible: "The Republican National Guard located and detained today, May 21, in Fatima, a 55-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman suspected of committing the crimes of domestic violence and exposure and abandonment."
The children have since been placed in foster care, while French authorities work on the process of returning them to their country of origin.
CNN Portugal also reported that authorities in France will need to assess whether the boys’ biological father is able to care for them before any handover takes place.