EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — The Chihuahua State Attorney General’s office said the four U.S.-born siblings reported missing during the weekend have been located safe and sound and are back in South Dakota with their biological father.
On Saturday, Mexican state authorities issued four missing persons bulletins for Elías Gómez Herrera Luis Mendoza, Madahi Gómez Herrera Luis Mendoza, Ismael Gómez Herrera Luis Mendoza, and Issac Gómez Herrera Luis Mendoza.
The bulletins said Elías was 9, and the others were all 12. Officials later updated their age information: Ismael, 14; Madahi, 13; Issac, 12; and Elías, 9.
They allegedly disappeared on Saturday in the Lázaro Cárdenas neighborhood of Meoqui in Chihuahua, the Mexican state that borders Texas and New Mexico. Meoqui is about an hour’s drive southeast of the state capital, Chihuahua City.
In a Monday statement, the AG’s office said the father contacted them and notified them that the children were with him.
Investigators say that without notice, the sister and three brothers set out to live with their father.
Both parents, neither of whose name is in the news release, claim to have custody of the children. The mother can continue her custody case, but social workers said they had to refer her to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the other hand, state authorities closed the missing persons case.