Members of the public have been asked to come forward with information that could lead police to capture two parents suspected of abducting a child from a Paris hospital
A newborn baby snatched from a maternity ward may have been smuggled out of the hospital in a “simple bag”, a witness has claimed.
Police issued an emergency alert across multiple communication platforms today informing members of the public in regional Paris, France, that the baby, named Santiago, was abducted from Robert-Ballanger hospital in Seine-Saint-Denis. He is believed to be just 17 days old, and to have disappeared between 11pm and 11.30pm on Monday evening.
He is described as having blond hair, and was abducted while wearing white velvet pyjamas and an oversized brown T-shirt Investigators have identified the child’s parents, a 23-year-old man and 25-year-old woman, as the only suspects in the case so far, with pictures of the two released to the public. A manager at the hospital from which the baby was taken has claimed they saw the two leaving with the youngster.
Speaking to French national outlet Le Parisien, the hospital manager said he saw the parents leaving the hospital neonatology ward, where they were stopped by a nurse. On spotting the two, they said the nurse had asked whether they planned to return by midnight, to which the reportedly responded: “Yes.”
The manager added that their movements didn’t raise suspicion, as staffers are used to seeing new parents carrying clothes for their newborn children. They said: “Without a baby in their arms or in a stroller, the couple was only equipped with a simple bag, which did not attract the attention of the hospital staff who were used to seeing parents carrying clothes for their newborn.” The parents are believed to have driven off with the bag.
Hospital representatives said it was the “first time” they had ever seen an incident like this at Robert-Ballanger, adding that all “the necessary staff” were on shift when the parents left. Police have worked quickly since the baby disappeared on Monday, with officers having arrested several people in Livry-Gargan, in Seine-Saint Denis, after carrying out searches at the parents’ address in Noisy-le-Sec.
They also checked the registered addresses of family members, with those arrested reportedly being “members of the baby’s parents’ entourage”, according to French television channel TFI, but no further details were provided. Police have been unable to specify why the child was kidnapped, but said those arrested are being questioned as part of an inquiry on “organised gang kidnapping”.
