A French mother and stepfather have been arrested in Portugal after abandoning her two young sons, aged five and three, blindfolded in a wooded area between the towns of Alcácer do Sal and Comporta. The parents told the boys they were playing a game called “drive away the devil”.
The brothers, identified by international media as Barthélémy, 5, and Zacharie, 3, were found wandering the N235 road on the evening of Tuesday, 19 May 2026, at around 7pm. They were discovered by local couple Eugénia and Artur Quintas, who took them home and alerted police.
Found cold, bruised and frightened
The boys were carrying nothing more than a change of clothes, two pieces of fruit and two bottles of water. They were covered in dirt and bruises, and one had injured his knee. Neither child had identifying documents.
“They were crying, they were terrified. They were crying and calling for their father,” Artur Quintas told local media.
The children were taken to Setúbal Hospital, where they were given a clean bill of health. A toxicology report confirmed the boys had not been drugged.
The ‘drive away the devil’ game
Authorities established that the boys had come from France. They told police their mother and stepfather had blindfolded them and led them into the woods, telling them they could only remove the blindfolds once they had found a knife buried in the ground.
The older brother dug in the dirt for several minutes before removing both blindfolds. The boys then wandered the area for several hours, still believing they were playing a game.
Parents arrested in Fátima
Portuguese police arrested Marine Rousseau, 41, and Marc Ballabriga, 55, in Fátima on Wednesday, 21 May 2026, around 200 kilometres from where the children were found. They face allegations of abuse, abandonment and endangering others.
The boys’ biological father had filed a missing persons report in France on 11 May, prompting a Europe-wide search. French prosecutors have opened a child neglect case, and an urgent legal procedure has been opened in the family and juvenile court in Santiago do Cacém. The children have been placed in foster care while arrangements are made for their return to France.
Sources:
Ynet News
WTX News
LadBible
The Mirror
