A small Italian village was rocked when a family was discovered on a remote farm. Though the father and his two young children had been living there for several years, no one knew. Upon discovering the family, the children were dubbed “ghost children.” Even more shocking than simply learning about the family was the way they were living.
The father had reportedly been intentionally keeping his children isolated. It was so extreme that the children could barely speak, let alone read or write. And even worse still, they were found wearing diapers, despite being old enough not to need them.
The family was discovered in Lauriano in April 2025, when Italian police arrived to issue a flood evacuation warning, Dagens.com reported. Police found the family living in squalor, with no running water or proper electricity in the home. Their father, a 53-year-old Dutch man, had moved the family to the farm near Turin in Italy but never registered the children with the government. The mother is reportedly homeless and not in the picture.
According to the father, the children were born in Germany, and are registered there. Because no one knew about them, local media is calling them “ghost children.” They are 7 and 9 years old, but neither child has ever seen a doctor or been to school.
Apparently, the father chose to isolate them because he wanted to protect them from society and viruses, including COVID-19. “I love my children. I just wanted to protect them,” he told Italian newspaper Corriere Torino per the Daily Mail. Their home was reportedly full of rotting furniture and garbage.
“I’m not a paranoid who wants to hide from the world. I just like doing things alone and spending time with my family,” he said.
The father insisted that his children had access to laptops and musical instruments, and went on vacations. However, authorities discovered the children couldn’t read or write. They didn’t even have access to basic hygiene. The children allegedly can’t speak Italian or German; they speak a primitive language only they could understand. But the most shocking claim is that the children were wearing diapers when they were discovered.
“During the hasty evacuation of the house I forgot the little ones’ underwear and at the nursery they gave me some diapers and they put those on,” the Daily Mail reported him telling Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera.
Once they were found, the Turin Juvenile Court ordered they be taken immediately. “There are facts that suggest that the minors are deprived of adequate assistance from their parents or relatives who are required to provide it,” the court said.
Mayor Mara Bacolla called the situation “a very delicate matter.” She continued, calling the father “very reserved” and unable to speak Italian. The children are now in the care of the state awaiting foster care placement.
“These children can finally find a balance and have access to a life worthy of the name,” Bacolla said.
However, their father is fighting to get his children back. “I will fight until they are returned to us. We want to live in Italy, in this wonderful country that has gone too far in taking our children away from us … I am not the bogeyman and I miss them so much.”
