A 3-year-old boy was kidnapped on 7 May 2017 in the town of Morozovsk, Rostov Region. Some unidentified persons sprayed a mace into the face of the boy’s grandmother, grabbed the child from her arms and took off in a car. The Rostov Region Office of the Investigative Committee opened an investigation in kidnapping of a minor committed by a group of people under Part 2, items “a” and “e” of Article 126 of the RF Penal Code.
After the information was received that the kidnappers were moving in the car with Volgograd registration plate and therefore could be in Volgograd Region, the police of the region joined the search.
The suspects were detained on 8 May 2017 in Chernyshkovsky District, Volgograd Region during well-planned investigative and search operations. The suspects are a married couple -–a 48-year-old local resident and his 47-year-old wife. A court has ruled to place both of them in custody pending trial.
Investigators have discovered that the couple has five children, four of whom were adopted. One of their adopted children went missing in September 2016. The 4-year-old boy was playing in a sandbox near their house and then allegedly disappeared. The parents did not report it to the police during the next 8 months but continued to get the benefits. As the investigators had all reasons to believe that the disappearance of the adopted child was likely of criminal nature, the investigators opened an investigation in murder under Part 2, item “c” of Article 105 of the RF Penal Code. The suspected parents are being interrogated.
At present an investigative team is working at the presumable burial site to find the boy’s remains.
In addition, the Volgograd Region Office of the Investigative Committee has initiated criminal proceedings against the officials of guardianship services who let the couple to adopt four children. They are suspected of negligence under Article 293 of the RF Penal Code. The investigators are going to look thoroughly into all the circumstances surrounding the adoption and to give legal assessment to the actions and omission of certain officials who failed to check the children’s living conditions and most importantly did not notice that the 4-year-old boy had disappeared. By now the investigators have learned that the boy together with his elder brother were adopted in late 2014. By that time the couple had been raising two other children adopted from a rehabilitation center in 2009. The children have been confiscated and examined. Authorities are going to take of the children now. Both investigations in Volgograd and Rostov Regions are ongoing.
Official spokesperson for the RF Investigative Committee S.L. Petrenko
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