7 Missing Children in Fresno, CA: Police Suspect Kids' Father of Abduction
Police in California are investigating the disappearance of seven children who have not been seen since Saturday as a possible family abduction.
The children involved range in age from 5 to 12, and local reports indicate that the children were left in their Fresno, Calif., home. Meanwhile, their mother and stepfather went to a local grocery store to shop around 6 p.m. Saturday evening, according to preliminary reports from the Fresno Police Department.
"We don't believe that the children are at risk or in danger, biological mom does not believe that (they are at risk)," said Fresno police Lt. Jeff Montoya.
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Police revealed they believe that 54-year-old Xa Yang, the father of the missing children, may have driven from Sacramento to Fresno in an attempt to meet with his children.
Investigators did state that Yang has not had a close relationship with his children in recent years and may have been acting out to draw attention to his frustrations. Police suspected that Yang drove from Sacramento to Fresno on Saturday to see his children and may have taken them back north to Sacramento.
Police stated that the missing children's biological father "picked up all of the children" whom he had not seen in over three years, according to reports.
Local authorities have yet to suspect foul play given that all seven children, in addition to their belongings, were removed from the apartment they lived in that showed no signs of forced entry or other illegal dealings.
Police have failed to get in contact with the father, and the children's mother has yet to hear from her former husband concerning the welfare of their children, according to a police statement.
Police have opened a statewide search for the children who they believe are with Yang and who was last seen driving a 2005 white Toyota Sienna minivan with license plate number "6GCC504."
