Former French Police Officer Detained on Suspicion of Murdering Children’s Mothers After Kidnapping

Portuguese authorities have apprehended a former French police officer who is believed to have murdered the mothers of his children after abducting them.

Cedric Prizzon, who once served with the Paris police and was a youth international rugby player, is also known as a father's rights advocate entrenched in a contentious custody dispute with his ex-partner.

Previously, he had lost custody rights and faced a conviction for harassing his former partner after taking their son unlawfully to Spain for several weeks in 2021.

Officers in Portugal reported that they discovered "two bodies buried... in a secluded area" on Wednesday night, following the arrest of the 42-year-old Prizzon in a vehicle near Meda while he was with his two children, a 12-year- old boy and an 18-month-old girl.

In the car, the police recovered a pump-action shotgun, forged documents, license plates, and 17,000 euros (approximately $19,600) in cash.

According to the police statement, the two deceased were identified as Prizzon's partner and ex-partner, while efforts to confirm their identities and compile evidence are ongoing.

On Thursday, Prizzon appeared before a judge in Vila Nova de Foz Coa, close to where he was detained. Observers shouted "Killer! Killer" as he entered the small provincial courthouse, as noted by an AFP reporter.

The authorities stated that the two children will be returned to France.

French law enforcement had been searching for Prizzon since the two women vanished from their residences in the Aveyron region of south-central France the previous week.

The manhunt commenced after his former partner failed to report for work at an insurance company, and her son was absent from school.

Prizzon was also missing from their joint home in the nearby village of Savignac, along with his new partner, aged 26, and their infant daughter.

Detectives quickly identified Prizzon as the prime suspect in the abductions.

During the contentious custody battle over their son, Prizzon launched a campaign on social media, accusing his ex-partner of putting their child in danger and participating in protests with other fathers who had lost custody of their children.