The French boy was kept in a closed van for almost 2 years before he was rescued this week

A 9-year-old boy was rescued this week after being locked in his father’s van in eastern France since 2024, according to a local prosecutor. The child is hospitalized, the father is arrested.

Police were alerted by a neighbor to “baby noises” coming from a van on Monday in the village of Hagenbach near the Swiss-German border, according to a statement issued by Prosecutor Nicolas Heitz on Saturday.

After forcing the van open, they found the child “lying in the child’s seat, naked, covered with a blanket on top of a pile of garbage and next to a toilet,” the statement said. The child was malnourished and unable to walk because he had been sitting for a long time, said the statement.

The boy’s father, 43, told investigators he put the child in the truck in November 2024 “to protect him,” because his partner, 37, wanted to take the boy to a mental hospital, prosecutors said. The boy was 7 years old at the time.

The prosecutor said there were no medical records showing the boy had a mental health problem before he disappeared, and the boy was doing well in school.

The boy told investigators he had “a lot of trouble” with his father’s partner, and thought his father had “no choice” but to lock him up, according to the prosecutor. He said he has not showered since 2024.

The boy told police that his father brought him food twice a day and left him water, CBS News’ partner BBC News reported, citing Le Parisien newspaper.

He said he had to urinate in plastic bottles and urinate in bin bags, the outlet added, and he last showered in late 2024.

My father was charged with kidnapping and other charges and was kept in custody. His partner denied that the boy was in the van, according to the prosecutor. He was charged with the first charges, which included failure to render aid to a minor in danger, and was released on bail.

The boy’s 12-year-old sister and the 10-year-old daughter of his father’s partner were placed on social assistance.

The prosecutor’s office is investigating whether they had any information about the boy who is in custody. Friends and family told investigators they thought the boy was in a mental institution. His teachers were told he had transferred to another school, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Authorities have not released the names of the victim or family members.

Residents of the area reached by the Associated Press expressed their shock on Saturday at what happened and said they did not even know where the boy was, but did not want to talk about the details.

Some neighbors told the BBC that they sometimes heard noises inside the van, but were told it was a cat.

The prosecutor declined to comment further to the AP as the investigation is ongoing.