Woman’s body north of Tri-Cities leads to a two-state search for 2 missing children
Franklin County sheriff’s deputies were searching for two missing children on Thursday after a woman was found dead in the northern part of the county.
On Thursday, the sheriff’s office received a report of a missing woman found possibly dead in Mesa, about 25 miles north of Tri-Cities.
Deputies responded and found a woman dead near a home in the area of First Street. During their initial investigation they discovered two young children were missing from the home, according to a news release from Sheriff Jim Raymond.
The deputies suspected foul play and called in detectives, beginning a search for the children.
At 11:30 p.m. deputies located a suspect’s vehicle near Irrigon, Ore., about 65 miles south of the rural Washington farming town of Mesa.
The kids were in the vehicle and unharmed. And a female suspect was taken into custody. She is expected to make an appearance in an Oregon court on Friday.
The children are in the custody of the Oregon Department of Human Services until family can be located.
The investigation is ongoing. The area around the scene in Mesa is expected to be closed for several hours Friday morning, said sheriff’s officials.
