Portugal police investigate French woman suspected of abandoning two children

Portugal's judicial ​police (PJ) said ​on Thursday they ‌were searching ​for a French woman suspected of abandoning her two young ‌children, who were found earlier this week walking alone in the country's south.

Portugal's judicial ​police (PJ) said ​on Thursday they ‌were searching ​for a French woman suspected of abandoning her two young ‌children, who were found earlier this week walking alone in the country's south. French authorities had issued ‌a Europe-wide request to help find the woman ‌and children, aged 4 and 5, after their father reported them missing from their home in the ⁠town ​of Colmar, eastern ⁠France.

The PJ said in a statement that the ⁠children were discovered on Tuesday along a road in ​the town of Alcacer do Sal, apparently lost ⁠after being abandoned by their mother, whom they did not ⁠identify. The ​woman is being investigated for the crimes of exposure to danger, and of ⁠abandonment, the PJ said.

After vanishing from their home, there ⁠were ⁠suspicions they could have travelled to Spain or Portugal, the PJ said.