A desperate search for two children from Inkster has come to a close on Wednesday after the kids were found safe across state lines.
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Police say a father assaulted the mother of his children before taking off with the kids, threatening to take their lives and his own. That sparked a search across Detroit, Inkster, and Ohio, where the kids were ultimately found.
"So naturally, any time we receive a call that there's kids missing and can possibly be harmed it ... kind of raised a bunch of emotions throughout all of the departments involved. We were working really diligently to make sure that we use every resource that we had to locate those children, and we're just thankful that they were found safe and unharmed," said Inkster Police Chief Tamika Jenkins.
Family tells 7 News Detroit that the 4- and 6-year-old boys are en route to be reunited with their mother.
Police from Inkster, Detroit and Ohio put all hands on deck, tracking cellphones and using Flock, and ultimately finding those children in a cornfield in Ohio.
Family says this started Wednesday morning with the 36-year-old father of the children tying up their mother before taking off with the kids in a vehicle.
Relatives say the 36-year-old had been struggling mentally since the passing of his mother last year, and was having an episode this morning.
Family says once the mother of his children was able to free herself, she contacted Inkster police, who then launched into action working to locate the children.
Police say they received information from the kids' mother that the father was at Rouge Park in Detroit threatening to take his and the kids' lives. That’s where we saw a massive police search for the children, but they were not found there.
Police confirm the father actually crossed state lines with the children into Ohio, where investigators say the 36-year-old shot himself in a cornfield. Officials have identified the father as Brandon Deandre Lee.
Chief Jenkins spoke of the challenges of the day in locating the children, calling it intense.
"They were no longer in Michigan, and so that makes it a little bit more difficult because now you have to bring in other organizations and get them involved and trying to just keep that communication open between all the departments that were trying to bring these kids home safely," said Chief Jenkins.
Police tell us Flock cameras were also integral in their search for the children.
