Police are still searching for the children’s mother, Khadejha Emony Coran, 22, who does not have custody of the children.
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Coran had lost custody of the two children at a Clark County Children Services hearing on Tuesday afternoon then immediately went to two different daycare facilities to pick up the children. She was last seen just after 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
After picking her children up from daycare, Coran then dropped them off at the home of a friend who would sometimes babysit the children, Springfield Police Lt. Lou Turner said. The babysitter called police after seeing the advisory on News Center 7’s 11 p.m. newscast.
Coran’s vehicle was recovered on Wednesday afternoon in the same neighborhood where the children were found.
Coran is facing two counts of abduction and two counts of interference with custody, police said.
Both children were back in the custody of children services Wednesday.
Ohio State Highway Patrol explained Tuesday night as law enforcement officials were searching for the children why an Endangered Child Advisory instead of an Amber Alert was issued.
The Springfield missing children case was not a statewide Amber Alert because it did not meet the criteria for a statewide alert, said Lt. Russell Pasqualetti of the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Columbus.
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Springfield police did contact the state patrol, which determines when a statewide alert is issued, in an attempt to have an alert issued, however, the state patrol determined there was no specific or imminent threat to the children, Pasqualetti said.
Springfield police believed that the children could be in danger, and kept their own “hyperalert” and missing and endangered children warnings in place before the children were found, Turner said.
According to the official Amber Alert website, an Amber Alert is defined as an emergency response system that disseminates information about a missing person (typically a child) by media broadcasting or electronic roadway signs. Among other concerns is that the person has been abducted, is in danger of harm or death, the person is under age 17 years old and critical information about the child has been entered into the National Crime Information Center system.
An Endangered Child Advisory is a part of an Endangered Missing Advisory. An EMA is used for cases involving missing persons that do no meet Amber Alert criteria.
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