A French woman suspected of abandoning her two young boys in Portugal and her partner arrived at court on Saturday for further questioning, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.
The 41-year-old woman and the 55-year-old man could potentially be placed in pretrial detention following the hearing in the port city of Setubal as authorities investigate alleged child abuse, endangerment and abandonment.
The boys, aged four and five, were found crying on the side of a road on Tuesday evening by a passing motorist near the resort town of Comporta, where they had been left with backpacks containing food and water but no identity documents, according to Portuguese media.
The couple was arrested Thursday by Portuguese authorities and brought before an investigating judge Friday at the court in Setubal, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of the capital, Lisbon.
They were questioned for several hours at the court in a first session on Friday.
