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  "path": "/2026/04/11/boy-9-can-no-longer-walk-locked-dads-van-nearly-500-days-27935818/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-11T13:05:58.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "World",
    "Crime News",
    "France",
    "Switzerland",
    "Germany",
    "school",
    "News Updates",
    "Breaking News",
    "check our news page",
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  "textContent": "The suspects’ terrace at a residential building where a boy was discovered naked and malnourished on a pile of rubbish in a van in Hagenbach, eastern France (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)\n\n**A nine-year-old boy has been rescued after being locked inside his dad’s van for nearly 18 months.**\n\nThe youngster is now in a hospital in eastern France after being found ‘lying in a foetal position, naked, covered by a blanket on top of a mound of trash and near excrement’.\n\nHe had been confined to a sitting position inside the vehicle for so long he can no longer walk, Prosecutor Nicolas Heitz added in a statement.\n\nPolice were alerted by a neighbour who heard the ‘sounds of a child’ coming from the van in the village of Hagenbach near the borders of Switzerland and Germany on Monday.\n\nThe boy’s father, who has been detained, allegedly told investigators he put his son in the van in November 2024 ‘to protect him’ because his partner wanted to send him to a psychiatric hospital.\n\nBut the prosecutor said there were no medical records of the youngster having any psychiatric problems, while school records show he had good grades.\n\n##  Sign up for all of the latest stories\n\nStart your day informed with Metro's **News Updates** newsletter or get **Breaking News** alerts the moment it happens.\n\nMr Heitz said the boy told investigators he had ‘big difficulties’ with his father’s partner and thought he ‘had no choice’ but to lock him up.\n\nHe said he hadn’t showered since 2024.\n\nGendarmes discovered the child after being alerted by a local resident who had heard ‘the sounds of a child’ coming from a van (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)\n\nThe father was handed preliminary kidnapping and other charges and kept in custody.\n\nHis partner denied knowledge that the boy was in the van, according to the prosecutor.\n\nShe was handed preliminary charges, including for failure to help a minor in danger, and released under judicial supervision.\n\nThe boy’s 12-year-old sister and the 10-year-old daughter of his father’s partner were put in the care of social services.\n\nThe prosecutor’s office is investigating whether anyone else knew what was happening to the child.\n\nFriends and family told investigators they thought the boy was in a psychiatric institution.\n\nHis teachers were told he had transferred to a different school, according to the prosecutor’s office.\n\nAuthorities did not release the names of the victim or family members.\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,** check our news page.\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Boy, 9, loses ability to walk after being locked in dad’s van for nearly 500 days"
}