Gozo police find children reported missing in Germany

The Gozitan police have located a group of German children and their mothers, who were reported missing by their estranged partners in Germany.

Police have questioned a group of three mothers, who were hosted by a married couple, all of them German, who were living in an apartment in Marsalforn. Another woman and her child were also reported to be living with them although police have not yet located them.

The discovery was made after a six-year-old boy was found wandering in a field in Triq is-Salini, Marsalforn.

Police sergeant Johann Said from Gozo's Criminal Investigation Department, and police constables Althea Sammut and David Xerri found the boy, who later pointed them to the Gozitan residence where he was staying in.

There the police found four women and a man, together with three boys and two girls aged between 5 and 6. Two of the boys and a girl have been reported missing in Germany by their fathers, while the rest of the children were accompanied by their mothers.

The German couple hosting the women were reported to have said denied having committed anything illegal, and that they were hosting the women as part of a charity for battered mothers in Germany.

The police have made contact with social welfare agency Appogg, which is interviewing the children, while police inspector Joseph Busuttil from the Vice Squad has interrogated the German nationals in Gozo.

In a statement, the Police's communications office confirmed MaltaToday's report. The discovery, the CMRU said, took place yesterday and confirmed that the Maltese police was now working with the German authorities.

In its statement, the Police said that due to the ongoing investigations, it was not prudent to comment on the case.