Kidnap baby suspects revealed as parents - amid warning child could die within 12 hours

The parents of a 17-day-old baby who was from a ward have been named as prime suspects in the case – with police warning the baby could survive for just 12 hours without medical care.

The premature tot was snatched late on Monday night from the Robert-Ballanger in the Seine-Saint-Denis area of , France, and is believed to have been carried away inside a handbag. An urgent manhunt is now underway with authorities urging members of the public to come forward with any vital information, as they fear the family "could have reached Belgium" overnight.

The baby, named Santiago, requires "constant care", and is expected to live just 12 hours without it, a police source said. He has blond hair and was wearing white velvet pyjamas and an oversized brown T-shirt when he was kidnapped.

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French police have identified the baby's 23-year-old father and 25-year-old mother as the only suspects, sharing photos of them both. They are from the Roma community and are already known to police, although their names have not been shared at this stage.

Officers say the pair vanished on Monday evening between 11pm and 11.30pm, before the abduction alert was raised early Tuesday. The parents' address in Noisy-le-Sec, as well as any registered addresses of family members, have been scoured by police since. TFI Info reported that a number of people had been arrested in connection with the case this morning in Livry-Gargan, in Seine-Saint Denis. All were said to be "members of the baby's parents' entourage".

The group are now being probed by police as part of the investigation opened for "organised gang kidnapping". A manager at the Robert-Ballanger hospital said he saw the parents fleeing the neonatal ward when a nurse stopped them. The nurse then asked if they would be returning for midnight, to which they replied "yes", according to Le Parisien.

The manager said: "Without a baby in their arms or in a stroller, the couple was only equipped with a simple bag, which did not attract the attention of the hospital staff who were used to seeing parents carrying clothes for their newborn."

The parents reportedly drove off with the baby in a bag, but their journey was unable to be tracked by surveillance footage. The hospital meanwhile said this was the “first time” a case like it had happened at the premises, adding all “the necessary staff” were on shift at the time.

Police have urged members of the public who encounter the child to not intervene directly and instead call the emergency services. The Seine-Saint-Denis judicial police described the father as a “23-year-old man, dressed in dark jeans, a white T-shirt, a light blue denim jacket and a black overcoat”. The mother was described as a “25-year-old woman, dressed in a white sweater, a light blue sleeveless jacket and a green skirt”.