Two Eastern Washington sisters allegedly abducted by their mother were found safe hours after the Washington State Patrol issued an AMBER Alert, concluding a search that spanned multiple states and mobilised law enforcement across the region.
The Odessa Police Department did not disclose the location where the girls, ages 8 and 11, were found late Tuesday with their mother.
The OPD confirmed the girls’ mother was supposed to return them to their father around 4 p.m. Sunday as part of their court-ordered parenting plan. The WSP sent the alert to people’s phones around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday and the Washington State Department of Transportation posted the notice on electronic billboards across I-5.
The girls were reportedly last seen at 6 a.m. Tuesday on West Broadway Avenue in Montesano with their mother, who authorities believed could have been heading to Deer Park in Spokane, or out of state to Arizona, Utah, or California.
Online records indicate the girls’ parents have been going through divorce proceedings since September. In filings, their father stated their mother has a history of mental health challenges, including bipolar disorder, and drug abuse. He told a Lincoln County court he believes she relapsed after draining their bank account, indicated she was suffering from postpartum depression and felt detached from the children, and refused counselling. According to police, the girls live with their father in Odessa, approximately 75 miles west of Spokane.
Police stated the girls’ mother was not in custody as of Tuesday evening.
The safe recovery of the two Odessa girls hours after the AMBER Alert was issued demonstrates both the effectiveness of widespread public notification systems in generating tips and sightings, and the complex family law dynamics that underlie many parental abduction cases where custodial violations occur amidst contentious divorce proceedings and mental health concerns.
The mother’s failure to return the girls to their father by the court-ordered 4 p.m. Sunday deadline created a nearly three-day window before authorities issued the AMBER Alert on Tuesday afternoon. This delay reflects the challenges law enforcement faces in distinguishing between custodial interference requiring immediate emergency response and situations where a parent with partial custody rights is late returning children but may still voluntarily comply.
AMBER Alert criteria typically require evidence that an abduction has occurred, that the child faces serious bodily harm or death, and that sufficient descriptive information exists to assist in recovery. The delay between the Sunday deadline violation and the Tuesday alert issuance suggests investigators needed time to gather evidence supporting the conclusion that this constituted abduction warranting emergency notification rather than a custody dispute requiring family court intervention.
The last confirmed sighting at 6 a.m. Tuesday on West Broadway Avenue in Montesano, located in Grays Harbor County on Washington’s coast approximately 100 miles from Seattle, placed the mother and children far from their Eastern Washington home in Odessa. This geographic distance, combined with the belief she might be heading to Deer Park near Spokane or out of state to Arizona, Utah, or California, indicated extensive travel and suggested flight rather than temporary delay in returning the children.
The range of potential destinations spanning from Eastern Washington to multiple southwestern states complicated the search by creating an enormous geographic area where the mother might have taken the children. The inclusion of Arizona, Utah, and California as possible destinations suggests either the mother has connections in these states, previous statements indicated interest in these locations, or digital evidence such as internet searches or communications pointed investigators toward these areas.
