A pair of siblings were found in a remote Icelandic village three months after they were reported missing in Ohio.
Videos by Suggest
In a statement, the U.S. Marshals Service in Northern Ohio, in conjunction with the Canton Police Department (CPD) and the U.S. State Department, revealed that they recovered the missing siblings in Reykjavik, Iceland, on Jan. 10. The children, ages 8 and 9, both from Canton, Ohio, were first reported missing to CPD on Oct. 25.
“The CPD began investigating their whereabouts after a family member reported them missing,” the statement reads. “The report indicated the mother (34) stopped taking her mental health medication, abandoned her apartment, and the children stopped attending school.”
It was further revealed that the CPD eventually requested the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Missing Child Unit in Cleveland, Ohio, and a dual investigation began.
“The missing children were initially tracked to Denver, Colorado,” the U.S. Marshals Service also stated. “As the case intensified, investigators learned the three traveled to London, England, and then on to the Island of Jersey in the English Channel. From there, they traveled to a remote fishing village in Iceland and finally were located by Icelandic Police at a hotel in Reykjavik.”
After they were found, the children were placed in the care of Iceland Social Services. A trusted family member has since got them. Their mother was placed in a hospital, where she will remain until she is well enough to return to the U.S.
U.S. Marshals Speak Out After Missing Ohio Siblings Were Found in Iceland
Meanwhile, the U.S. Marshals spoke out about the investigation to find the missing Ohio siblings.
“The collaboration of effort in this case can’t be overstated,” U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated. “The ability to respond and recover these children abroad is an extremely difficult task. Our investigators did an outstanding job. We are lucky to have such strong and dedicated law enforcement partners, and credit should be given to them for helping bring these children home.”
Captain John Bosley with Canton Police also told News5Cleveland that the Icelandic officials were keeping track of the missing children and their location until U.S. law enforcement was able to get proper court orders.
“Sometimes we’re able to find [missing children] in a couple hours, a couple days, sometimes a couple counties over, a couple states over,” Elliott pointed out. “But this is the first time we’ve been able to find missing kids as far away as Iceland.”
“In my almost 27 years of being in law enforcement, I’ve never had a case or been associated with a case like this,” Bosley added. “Where you have multiple jurisdictions involved, multiple locations throughout our country, and then obviously other countries as well.”