On Sunday around 3 p.m., the Washoe County Sheriff's Office responded to a call from Spanish Springs about two children, seven and nine years old, who had been allegedly kidnapped by their biological mother.
The mother was identified as Sarah Smith, who they say took the children against a court order and was on her way to California with them.
Deputies say they made contact with Smith over the phone, and she refused to bring the children back or provide her location. Around 4:20 p.m., California Highway Patrol officers located the vehicle on I-80 near Kingvale.
According to Gold Run California Highway Patrol, Smith was with her boyfriend. They say neither had custody of the children and both were arrested.
According to the Washoe County Sheriff's Office, Smith was booked into the Nevada County jail being held as a fugitive from justice on a kidnapping charge in Nevada.
The children were returned to their family unharmed.
“I commend the tenacity of these deputies in working diligently to secure the safe return of two small children to their family,” Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said. “I am also deeply appreciative of the collaborative effort law enforcement in our region played in returning these children safely back to our community. Jobs well done across the board.”
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
Two kidnapping suspects were taken into custody in California.
According to a social media post from the California Highway Patrol in Gold Run, the suspects were reported coming into California from Nevada on westbound I-80 with two children.
The California Highway Patrol in Truckee located the children safe and unhurt while the two suspects, identified in a follow-up comment from CHP Gold Run as the mother of the children and her boyfriend, were taken into custody.
The mother did not have custody of the kidnapped children according to CHP Gold Run.
Officers found the suspects hiding under an overpass.
