Spanish police issue update as search for ‘abducted’ British toddler Oliver Pugh continues
Spanish police have issued an update in the search for missing three-year-old Brit Oliver Pugh, who was last seen in the resort of Marbella on the Costa del Sol.
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The toddler was last seen on July 4, but was apparently not reported missing until a month later by his father. His appearance is being treated as “parental abduction”, according to officials.
Both Oliver and his father are confirmed to be British citizens, whilst his mother is from Russia.
Spanish authorities are working on the theory the child's mother has kidnapped him and left the country - despite orders from police forbidding her from leaving the country with the child.
Speaking on Friday, Spanish police said: “We believe the mother has left Spain and has taken the boy to her homeland which is Russia.”
Police are yet to reveal the identities of his parents, but said the couple are separated. Both parents were based on the Costa del Sol at the time of the disappearance. It is unclear whether Oliver was born in the UK, Spain or elsewhere.
A spokesman for Spain’s National Police in Malaga said that the investigation is ongoing.
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Spain’s National Missing Persons Centre (CNDES) website published an appeal, however it has since been taken down. It described Oliver as having “grey eyes, blonde hair, stands 85 centimetres tall and weighs 15 kilos”. His date of birth was reported as November 3, 2021.
It remains unclear if a court has issued an international arrest warrant for the unnamed mother.
A mouthpiece of Putin, Vladimir Kornilov, commented on the case on Telegram, saying it was “not yet a fact” that the mother had brought Oliver to Russia.
“But if this is indeed the case, it seems to me that we must do everything possible to protect the mother’s right to be with her Russian child,” Mr Kronilov said.
If Oliver is in Russia, a judge would have to officially declare the mother a fugitive and request an extradition to get Oliver back - something Russia almost always refuses for its own citizens.
Local reports said the boy was not originally reported missing by his father until August 7, over a month after his disappearence.
Police are yet to comment on the claims.