THREE missing children who were abducted by their mother have been found after more than two years later, authorities said.
US Marshals discovered mother Shawn Rodriguez, 42, and her three children – Daniel, David and Ariana Olivera – in Arlington, Texas, on Thursday.
Rodriguez fled Missouri in August 2017 and was discovered nearly 500 miles away from the county where her arrest warrant was issued.
It was reported that the children’s father was granted custody earlier this year, and local authorities first listed the children as missing in July.
According to KCTV, the children were all under the age of 8 when they were taken.
In August, a warrant was then issued in Saline County, Missouri, for the Rodriguez’s arrest for parental kidnapping, KCTV added.
That month, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the United States Marshals Service in the Western District of Missouri launched an investigation into the missing children, KSHB-TV reported.
After it was initially believed by police that Rodriguez could have headed to California, by October, investigators said they had narrowed down their search to the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas.
Having been taken into custody by US Marshals from the Northern District of Texas and local authorities, Rodriguez now awaits extradition to Missouri.
The children remain under the care of Texas Department of Family and Protective Services until they can be reunited with their father.
