Mum Marine Rousseau, 41, and stepdad Marc Ballabriga, 55, were said to be ‘relaxing’ at a cafĂ© when they were arrested on suspicion of deliberately abandoning their childen
A mum and stepdad accused of abandoning their children in the woods after telling them they were playing a ‘game’ were sitting ‘calmly’ in a cafĂ© when they were arrested, it has emerged.
Marine Rousseau and Marc Ballabriga were detained by police on Thursday, two days after allegedly leaving five-year-old son Barthélémy, and three-year-old Zacharie to fend for themselves in the Portuguese countryside.
The children had appeared “distressed” and were clutching just a water bottle and some fruit when they were discovered on a rural road near the town of Alcacer do Sal on Tuesday.
After police launched a manhunt, their car was spotted yesterday outside a café in the city of Fátima, about 112 miles north of where the kids were found.
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Now, detectives have revealed how the couple were sitting in a café and had made little effort to avoid being spotted on the day they were arrested.
Military police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Canatário told Portuguese television that Rousseau, 41, and Ballabriga, 55, had spent hours “relaxing” at the cafĂ© terrace enjoying their drinks before police arrived at the scene.
He added that the two suspects – who were arrested on suspicion of child abuse, endangerment, and abandonment – “have not been very cooperative”, describing them as “reserved”.
The children’s father, who had reported them missing from their home in France 10 days before the incident, is already on his way to Portugal to claim the two boys after they were placed in temporary care.
On the day of the incident, Rousseau is reported to have told her two sons that they were going to play a game to find a ‘hidden toy’, which involved leaving them blindfolded as they dug in the ground with their hands.
When the children finally removed their blindfolds and opened their eyes, the mother, stepdad, and the car had allegedly vanished.
Several hours, later they were found by Alexandre Quintas, a local baker and father-of-nine who was driving to work at the time.
He took the boys to the bakery to look after them, telling Portuguese news site Observador: “We asked them if they liked ice cream. And we gave them something to eat and some toys to keep them occupied.”
Alexandre and his mother EugĂ©nia Quintas were finally able to communicate with the boys after finding a local doctor who spoke French, and the five-year-old explained that they had been left alone in the “forest” by their parents. EugĂ©nia said: “On them they had an orange, a pear and a bottle of water each”.
