Man forgets wife at highway rest stop during Paris to Morocco journey

On the night of July 4th to 5th, gendarmes in the Landes region of southwestern France received an unusual call from a man traveling from Paris to Morocco. He reported that he had accidentally left his wife behind at a highway rest stop, without knowing exactly where or when.

The 62-year-old woman was missing, and their 22-year-old daughter, who was also in the car, couldn’t help locate her, as she had been asleep during the stop.

The man initially believed he might have stopped near Orléans, prompting gendarmes to contact their colleagues in that area, but with no results. Investigators then reviewed toll gate surveillance footage to trace the vehicle's route and determine when and where the woman had gone missing. Their investigation uncovered some inconsistencies, including the fact that the daughter had been seated in the front, contrary to what the father had claimed.

Eventually, using her mobile phone, the woman’s location was pinpointed. She had been waiting since 4 a.m. at the «Pamproux» service station in the Deux-Sèvres department—300 kilometers from where her husband thought he had last seen her. She had also contacted the local gendarmerie herself to report that her husband had driven off without her.

The man quickly turned back to retrieve his wife, while the gendarmerie in Deux-Sèvres opened an investigation to clarify the circumstances. Authorities later confirmed that it was simply a case of «forgetfulness».