Kidnapped French baby Santiago is doing well, Belgian prosecutor's office confirms

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) of Bergen in Belgium has received “reassuring information” about the state of health of baby Santiago, prosecutor Vincent Macq said at a press conference on Saturday morning. Santiago, who was born prematurely, was taken from a hospital in Paris by his parents on Monday evening and found in a hotel room in Amsterdam on Friday evening.

On Wednesday, the parents' car was found in Charleroi, Belgium. In the car was a SIM card that led to the Netherlands, Macq said at the press conference. He explained how the police were able to find the baby at Hotel Neutraal in Amsterdam on Friday evening around 7 p.m. through a cell phone investigation. The child was wrapped in a blanket and is doing well.

In addition to Santiago and his parents, the prosecutor said, the child's grandmother and two other children were also present at the hotel: a three-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy. The girl was most likely Santiago's sister.

The OM pointed out the good cooperation between the Belgian, French, and Dutch authorities. According to Macq, the Belgian public prosecutor's investigation ends here and will continue in France and the Netherlands, the countries where Santiago was abducted and found.

According to the Public Prosecution Service in Bobigny near Paris, two men were also arrested in France on Tuesday in connection with the case. This was reported by the AFP news agency. They are an adult and a minor. They are accused of kidnapping and holding a minor captive. The two have admitted to helping Santiago's parents escape to Belgium.

The Public Prosecution Service in Bobigny did not want to say anything about the parents' motive, except that the parents possibly feared losing custody of their child. On the day they left with the baby, they had previously had a conversation with the hospital.

The child was born on October 6 and has been in hospital in Paris ever since. His parents, a 23-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, who both have criminal records, took him away on Monday. Their car was then found near the Belgian city of Charleroi.

According to French authorities, Santiago was 17 days old when he was abducted and needed constant medical care. The young parents had apparently hidden Santiago in their bag while he was in the hospital and took him outside. A nurse noticed the child's disappearance a short time later and alerted the police, reports NU.nl.