Eight children abducted by their biological mother from a Queens child services agency have been found safe in Pennsylvania about a week after they were snatched, USA LOCAL NEWS has learned.
The NYPD Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested the parents, Shanel Nadal, 28, and Nephra Payne, in Harrisburg, where they are awaiting extradition to New York, police say.
The children are said to be in good condition. They are in the custody of child services authorities in Pennsylvania.
New York's child welfare agency, the Administration for Children's Services, said in a statement that its staff would bring the children back to the city.
"The children will be examined by medical personnel and we will ensure that they receive all necessary counseling to address any trauma that they may have experienced," the agency said.
Nadal was visiting with her children inside the Forestdale Child Agency in Forest Hills, Queens, on the afternoon of Sept. 19 when she took them and left with them in her vehicle, a black 1996 Chevrolet Suburban with license plate EXZ5896.
It wasn't immediately known how they were tracked down in Pennsylvania, where they were reportedly found spending the night in a van with no license plate.
ACS said it was investigating how the children were taken from the foster care facility.
Seven of the children are boys named after their father, though they all have different middle names. The youngest is an 11-month-old girl, Nefertiti.
The boys are 11, 10, 9, 6, 6, 5 and 4.
Nadal lost custody of her children several years ago, and sources say her efforts to reclaim them faltered because she hid the birth of her eighth baby from child welfare workers.
Sources say Nadal was allowed unsupervised visits with the older children and supervised with the baby.
NBC New York learned last week that ACS had doubts she was overcoming her issues and warned her recently that they were starting to plan for the possibility of terminating her parental rights and putting the children up for adoption.
Authorities believe that may be why she took the kids.
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