Father arrested in Pacifica after bodies of his two young kids were found in his Nebraska home

PACIFICA, Calif. - A Nebraska father, who was arrested more than 1,600 hundred miles away from his home over the weekend in Pacifica, has been charged in the death of his two young children.

Police said the children, 5-year-old Emily Price and 3-year-old Theodore Price, had been staying with their father, 35-year-old Adam Price, for a court-ordered visitation. The children's bodies were discovered Sunday morning at Price's home in Bellevue, in eastern Nebraska. 

Nebraska resident Adam Price, 35, was arrested in Pacifica on May 16, 2021 after the bodies of his children, 5-year-old Emily Price and 3-year-old Theodore Price were found in his home.  (Bellevue Police Dept. )

On Monday, he was charged with child abuse resulting in death, authorities said. An extradition hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

Police have not said how the children died. The charges do not specify how Price allegedly caused the children’s death, The Omaha World-Herald reported.

The children’s mother, Mary Nielsen, told reporters that she and Price are in the process of getting divorced and the children were at their father’s home for court-ordered visitation.

Nielsen, who had moved to Illinois with the children, called police more than once and went on social media to plead for information on her children’s whereabouts after not hearing from them since Thursday. Nielsen said her husband was under court order to provide her daily communication with the children during his visits.

Bellevue police twice went to Adam Price’s home — late Saturday night and early Sunday morning — at Nielsen’s request to check on the children, but left when no one answered the door. Bellevue police spokesman Capt. Andy Jashinske said in a news release that officers didn’t have sufficient reason to force an entry into the home.

A friend of Nielsen’s went to Price’s home around 11 a.m. Sunday at her request and went inside after finding the door unlocked. The friend called police after finding the children’s bodies.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family three-year-old Theodore and five-year-old Emily," Bellevue police said on social media on Sunday, after the bodies were found and as they announced a search was under way for the father.

Later that day, police announced that Price had been located in Pacifica and taken into custody. "Bellevue Police Detectives are coordinating with local law enforcement in California to continue the investigation," police said in a follow-up news release. 

Nielsen told the Omaha World-Herald that her children had been "happy, sweet, loving," and described Emily as exceptionally smart and Theodore as a typical little boy who liked playing with superheroes.

"I wish I could hold you one more time and tell you how much I love you," she said in a Facebook post Monday. "Rest easy, my sweet babies."

KTVU contributed to this report.