Missing kids found safe with mother

Three children taken from their grandmother without permission were found safe early Friday in Spokane.

They were found at an East Sprague women’s and children’s shelter with their mother, just hours after an Amber Alert was issued for them. Several women at the shelter recognized the children from television reports.

“The kids were fine. They were laying in bed,” said Spokane police Officer Brian Eckersley.

Police took the children’s mother, 33-year-old Deidre Williams, into the police station for questioning, but she was not arrested.

“We’re trying to determine whether this is going to be some kind of custody issue or a criminal case like a kidnapping,” Eckersley said.

The children’s father, 33-year-old Eric Johnson, has not been located.

According to Spokane County sheriff’s Sgt. Dave Reagan, Washington Child Protective Services had taken the children, ages 2 to 8, from their parents’ home in August and put them in their grandmother’s care.

The grandmother and parents were supposed to trade homes so that the children could attend the same Spokane Valley school they did last year. That swap didn’t occur.

Eckersley said the grandmother told police that two people dressed in business clothes came to get the children several days ago, telling her they had authority to take them. They didn’t have any CPS paperwork, however.

It took more than a day for the grandmother and CPS to figure out something was wrong, Eckersley said.

According to Reagan, that happened when the 8- and 6-year-olds’ school reported they hadn’t been attending. When deputies went to investigate, they found the parents’ home vacant because they had been evicted.

The Amber Alert was issued at that time.

Workers and women staying at the shelter declined to talk about the situation.

“Much more investigation needs to be done,” Reagan said.