The two abducted children in the Nord region found in Beuvrages

The two children who had been reported missing in the Nord region have been found safe, bringing an end to the Amber Alert issued earlier this Monday, January 20. Aged 3 and 5, the boys were abducted around 1:10 p.m. in Fourmies while they were with their mother on a public street in a busy shopping area. They were located later in the evening, at approximately 9 p.m., in Beuvrages (Nord), according to sources close to the investigation.

The primary suspect, the children’s 38-year-old father, was apprehended without incident shortly after they were found. According to initial findings, he had abducted the children earlier in the afternoon, prompting authorities to activate the Amber Alert system at 7:30 p.m.

To conduct the search, twelve patrol units, amounting to around 30 officers, along with ten investigators from the Lille Criminal Investigation Department, were mobilized. Additionally, the Cross-Border Police and Customs Cooperation Center (CCPD) in Tournai, Belgium, was placed on alert due to the risk of the suspect crossing the border with the vehicle in question.

This emergency system, which enables the immediate broadcasting of alerts across multiple channels in cases of confirmed child abductions, proved highly effective, resolving the situation within hours.