AIBU to be horrified by this story of child abandonment?

[Bullseyebutnotthenineties]

Has anyone seen this story? Sorry, struggling to link it.
A french mother and stepfather in Portugal abandoned their/her 3 year old and 5 year old in the woods.
Apparently they blindfolded them and told them they were playing a treasure hunt game and to wait, then take the blindfold off when they’d hidden the toy/prize.
They then left them there 😢
The boys were found on the side of the road by a lovely Portuguese man, who cried during his interview when talking about the boys. They were crying for their real dad apparently
The real dad, resident in France, had informed the authorities that the boys had been kidnapped by the mother (who has custody of them) and taken out of the country. She also left her other 16 year old son at home in France.
The couple were apparently found two hours away sitting on a terrace having a coffee and pastry.
The boys had little backpacks on with a bottle of water, change of clothes, sandwich and piece of fruit in.

There are no words, those poor poor boys
What on earth could make a mother do this?

And why take them away, to then do this??

Surely the only way they would get away for it is for the children to disappear. So that must have been their goal. Or did they think a kindly soul would come across them and adopt them in secret 🙄

the boy thinking the translator was his mum is so sad. Kids love so unconditionally. But what a strong little boy

I saw a video of them being brought in, handcuffed and the step dad was shouting something out loudly, but i’m not sure what? It’s utterly bizarre

I read he was shouting I love you to her and then she sang back to him

Sang? Jesus.

Playing the insanity card

It’s real life Hänsel and Gretel horror

Poor children.

Sorry that was directed @Phoenix1Arisen not @lavendervibes response!

She must have had a psychotic episode or something , but the step dad ?
What was he thinking ?

I know it’s less common for a mother to do something like this, but why assume she had a psychotic episode? Mothers abandoning kids because they don’t fit in with their new life isn’t unheard of - they just normally abandon them with family rather than in woods.

It's unbelievably horrible, those poor kids.

My children are the same age and I can't stop thinking about how excited they must have been at the start. And wondering how long it took for that to turn to fear and confusion.

They mum and stepdad are evil and I hope they're in prison for as long as possible.

My first assumption was coercive control by the step dad/partner, but you couldn’t let this happen, it’s baffling

I read that the dad only has supervised visits, if that’s true maybe it’s why the boys haven’t been sent straight to him. They are in foster care in Portugal at the moment apparently.

Poor little lads 😔

Absolutely, but guaranteed there’s going to be all the “poor woman!! She was led astray!!! She’s mentally unwell, new boyfriend MUST be a wrong ‘in, and ex of course horrible!!…” 🙄

Same, I just can’t stop thinking about this part too, so awful, so innocent and vulnerable

Actually I think a plus side is that kids are quite resilient and if she had set it up as a game they may have still been in that mind set - let’s go find mum. It’s probably once they were found and the police were there that the realisation hit that it wasn’t a game.

thank goodness they’re being looked after now

When I say that old fairy tales are documentaries, aka stepmothers in Cinders, etc. people laugh at me on here. Well, this is Hansel and Gretel 2.0. Awful.

Well the original fairy stories had the mother as the baddie (as in this case) but they were changed because it was felt too unsettling. That’s what I read somewhere anyway.

This story has made me feel sick.

Some people are just revolting.

One of them had the presence of mind to pla a blindfolding game and pack them bags with a few essentials in. Someone who does that is not insane.

thank goodness they were found by someone kind.

Absolutely, she’ll still her sympathisers though!

Well, none of us know the background about their birth father but he wasn't the one to leave two very small children blindfolded in a forest.

Horrific and thank everything they were found quickly.

Their dad was the one that reported them missing

I dont buy any of the "oh my mental health" bollocks they are trying out now.

This was premeditated and very well planned by two adults in cooperation with each other. They took them abroad fgs....

It's pure dumb luck these poor children arent dead.

I have 2 and 4 yr old and felt physically sick reading it.

I hope these two get harsh and long sentences and no one buys their fake doolally act.

Just awful isn't it