Two-week-old twin boys, who were taken Monday from a Michigan hotel by two women, have been located and are safe as investigators investigate what happened, police say.
The twins — Matthew Jace and Montana Alexander Bridges — were taken by two women in Livonia, Michigan according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Images posted by the site show two people identified as “associated companions” in hoodies that are concealing their faces.
“The children have been recovered safely and Livonia Police will be issuing more information shortly,” the Michigan State Police posted on social media, thanking the public and adding, “we are grateful these boys are OK!”
The Amber Alert which was issued just before 6 a.m. was canceled, about five hours later.
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In a brief news conference Detroit Police Chief James White, Livonia Police Capt. Gregory Yon and Acting FBI Special Agent in Charge Devin Kowalski agreed that it was the best outcome possible. The children, White said, were handed over to an officer at a Detroit precinct at about 9:30 a.m.
The authorities, who stood outside in front of Detroit’s Ninth Precinct sidestepped whether they were still investigating the incident as a kidnapping. White added that the twins were taken to a local hospital where they were examined and are in good condition.
White said he knew there were a lot of questions, but he added, investigators didn’t have a lot of answers.
Authorities and family frantically looked for the infants through the night and into the morning. The Amber Alert was especially jarring for some because, in addition to waking them up, it was a reminder of the Amber Alert in early July in Lansing, Michigan for a 2-year-old Wynter Cole-Smith that ended tragically.
The infants’ grandmother, Lolita Vann of Romulus, told the Detroit Free Press, a USA TODAY network outlet, she was worried sick about her grandbabies. She was upset to learn they were taken, but relieved they were found. She said she received a call from someone who said she had been asked to call her on behalf of her daughter, Jazlyn Morgan.
Vann added she had questions: Who had them? Where were they at? And when could she see them?
Livonia police have offered few details, saying only that the incident occurred Sunday night and investigators were interviewing the parents. The Jeep that authorities were looking for, police said, was last seen near the Quality Inn on Plymouth Road.
The hotel, when contacted by the Free Press declined to comment.
“I’m trying to piece the puzzle together,” Vann had said earlier Monday morning. “All I know is that my grandchildren went missing yesterday evening around 10 o’clock. And we don’t know the situation. I haven’t talked to her mom. She isn’t being held, but is at the police department.”
Vann said it was her understanding that daughter was trying to get help for a place to stay with her infant sons after her home was broken into and some people offered her diapers, but didn’t know how the situation might have turned into an abduction.
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Mike Lee Roy, of Detroit, had posted to Facebook, that his twin grandsons were kidnapped, and asked anyone with information to report it. Dozens of people commented they were praying for their safe return, and many more shared his plea.
AMBER, an acronym for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, was was created in memory of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas, and then killed. The thinking behind the alerts is that swift action can save lives.
Last month, however, 2-year-old Wynter Cole-Smith was not as fortunate. An Amber Alert was issued for her, after she was taken from her home in Lansing. Her body was later found in metro Detroit, and Rashad Maleek Trice, 26, has been charged with Wynter’s kidnapping and slaying.
Reporter Jasmin Barmore contributed to this report.
