A pair of young siblings who were reported missing in Ohio in October were found this month thousands of miles away in Iceland, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
The children, who were not named, are 8 and 9 years old, according to marshals based in northern Ohio. The minors were found by Icelandic police at a hotel in the country’s capital, Reykjavik, on Jan. 10, the marshals said.
A family member reported the children missing to Canton police Oct. 25. The children’s mother — who was also not identified — had stopped taking her mental health medication and abandoned her apartment and the children stopped attending school, the marshals said.
Canton police eventually requested the assistance of the marshals, according to the statement. The search also included assistance from the U.S. State Department, Interpol, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and authorities in England and Iceland.
The children’s mother took them to London, the Island of Jersey in the English Channel and a remote fishing village in Iceland before they were found in Reykjavik, officials said.
“The children were placed in the care of Iceland social services until a trusted family member could get them,” the marshals said. “The mother was placed in a hospital where she will remain until she is well enough to travel back to the U.S.”
Canton police were not immediately reached Monday afternoon for comment.
Reykjavik is nearly 3,000 miles from Canton.
U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in the statement the children would not have been found without dedicated law enforcement personnel who helped bring them home.
“The collaboration of effort in this case can’t be understated,” he said. “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.”
