Happy ending to search for 2 missing children

CLEVELAND - With the recent disappearance of a Blairsville woman fresh on their minds, White County sheriff's authorities feared the worse when they received a call Thursday evening that two children were missing.

Sgt. Phil Dalenberg said a woman went to White County Middle School around 6:00 to pick up her daughter, who was in the after school program there.  When she left home her two sons, ages 8 and 4, were in the car... but when she came out of the school the boys were not in the vehicle.

White County Sheriff Neal Walden, who was in charge, requested a complete investigation. Sheriff’s department, fire department and school officials began a search of the surrounding area.

Prior to initiating a full scale search, Sgt. Dalenberg and Senior Investigator John Murphy talked with the mother and ask her to backtrack her movements prior to coming to the school.  It was then they discovered that she had stopped at her sister's home on the way to the school and that the boys could have gotten out there without the mother's knowledge. Sgt. Ricky Johnson with the sheriff’s office located and confirmed the boys were at a residence in Cleveland.

Dalenberg said this incident ended on a happy note, but with Halloween weekend upon us he ask that adults keep a close watch on all children during this time and report any suspicious activity to 911.