California kids found alive, father arrested after mom killed
HANFORD, Calif. - Two young girls were found alive after being taken by their father, who is also suspected of killing their mother in California's Central Valley, authorities said.
Found safe
What we know:
The Kings County Sheriff's Office announced on Thursday that 3-year-old Arya Maldonado and her sister, 2-year-old Alana Maldonado, were found safe.
What we don't know:
Authorities have not disclosed exactly where the girls were located but said state and federal law enforcement officers helped in finding them.
Sheriff's officials said the girls' father, 23-year-old Jonathan Maldonado-Cruz, was arrested.
Mom killed
The backstory:
Deputies were sent to a home on Tuesday in the 11500 block of Fourth Place in Hanford to conduct a welfare check around 4 p.m. It was there that they found a woman dead from a gunshot wound, authorities said. The woman was the mother of Arya and Alana.
Authorities suspect Maldonado-Cruz killed the woman and then took their daughters from the home.
An AMBER Alert was activated Wednesday in search of the girls after it was believed their father may have fled to Mexico.
The Source: Information for this story comes from the King County's Sheriff's Office and the California Highway Patrol.