The Russian mother of a missing British boy is suspected of abducting him from the family home in Spain and taking him to her homeland.
Three-year-old Oliver P was last seen in Marbella on July 4 and was reported missing by his father, who is from the UK.
His parents were separated but living in the Costa del Sol.
A court order was in place preventing his mother from taking him out of the country, according to a source cited by The Sun.
A spokesperson for local police investigators said: ‘We are treating this as a parental abduction.
‘We believe the mother has left Spain and has taken the boy to her homeland which is Russia.’
Authorities described the boy as blonde, 85cm (2.7ft) tall and 15kg (33 pounds) heavy.
Spanish authorities and the country’s National Centre for Missing Persons have issued a joint appeal for members of the public to help locate him.
Anyone with information has been urged to contact police, with the centre adding: ‘Citizen collaboration is crucial in these cases.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
