The house near which the child, held captive in his father's van, was discovered in Hagenbach, Alsace, on April 11, 2026. SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP
There are just over 20 kilometers between Mulhouse and Hagenbach, in eastern France. It's a short distance for a move, but enough for a young boy to "disappear overnight," to quote the prosecutor of Mulhouse, Nicolas Heitz, who addressed the media on Wednesday, April 15, in the early afternoon. Previously enrolled in a school in Mulhouse, the boy in question was registered at Hagenbach's town hall, according to the former mayor, who spoke to the press. But the boy had never attended the small village school, which has only five classes.
Hagenbach has fewer than 800 residents. They preferred not to speak to the many journalists who have descended on the small town after a 9-year-old boy was found in his father's van on Monday, April 7. A neighbor had heard someone crying and notified the gendarmes. The first findings of the investigation found that the child had been locked up for about a year and a half in the utility vehicle. His father, Mickael G., 43, was charged and detained for "kidnapping and deprivation of care (...) endangering the health of a minor under 15 by a parent" last week. His partner, Aurore B., was also charged with "failure to assist a minor under 15 in danger" and "failure to report abuse and deprivation."
