Two boys aged nine and 10 from Barßel in Lower Saxony who had been missing since Monday were found on Wednesday at a relative’s home in Luxembourg and taken into care unharmed. The authorities involved are currently arranging their safe return, police in Cloppenburg said.
There had been neither an accident nor any acute danger to the children, according to officials.
Police reported that the boys were found in the company of a 30-year-old relative in Luxembourg and were taken into care by local police officers. The public prosecutor’s office in Oldenburg has opened an investigation against the man on suspicion of child abduction.
How the boys got to Luxembourg and why they were taken there is still under investigation.
According to police, the cousins had been living in a residential care group in Barßel since last year. On Monday afternoon, they set off for football training but never arrived at the sports hall.
Police launched a large-scale search operation, including sniffer dogs and a helicopter, which continued overnight and on Tuesday.
As early as Tuesday, police said they did not believe there had been an accident or any acute threat. Based on current information, the boys were no longer in the Barßel area, and relatives in other European countries had become part of the investigation.
