Santiago, a premature baby aged 17 days, was abducted on Monday 21 October from the maternity ward of the Robert-Ballanger hospital in Aulnay-sous-Bois. The main suspects are his parents, aged 23 and 25, who are suspected of having fled to Belgium

In response to this situation, on the evening of Tuesday 22 October, the Belgian police issued a nationwide APB at the request of the Mons public prosecutor’s office. The notice, posted on the Belgian federal police website and relayed by the Child Focus association, includes photos of the parents and an image of the car they are believed to be using, a dark blue Audi A4 with French registration number GR-956-ZV, as shown in the image. The notice states, ‘Please do not intervene personally, contact the police immediately in the event of a sighting.’

Investigators believe that the parents crossed the border into Belgium with their child. The Bobigny public prosecutor has sent a ‘European investigation decision’ to the Belgian judicial authorities to coordinate the investigations, asking Belgium to carry out the actions that France would have carried out on its own territory, such as searches, telephone tapping and surveillance.

Although the abduction alert issued in France was lifted that evening, Santiago is still missing, and the authorities are actively pursuing their search.