Missing Ohio siblings found in Iceland months after disappearance

Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News on Jan 21, 2025

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A pair of young siblings were found living in Iceland months after they seemingly disappeared from Ohio late last year, according to authorities.

The unidentified children, ages 8 and 9, were reported missing on Oct. 25, 2024, around the same time their mother reportedly stopped taking medicine for her mental health, according to a statement from the U.S. Marshals Service. She allegedly went on to “abandon” her apartment in Canton, and the children stopped attending school shortly thereafter.

An investigation was launched, but authorities in Canton were eventually forced to request assistance from the marshals, the statement said. The search also included assistance from the State Department, Interpol, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and authorities in England and Iceland.

Authorities were initially able to track the the children to Colorado, and then to London, the Island of Jersey in the English Channel and a remote fishing village in Iceland before the kids were found living in hotel in Reykjavik on Friday, officials said.

“The children were placed in the care of Iceland social services until a trusted family member could get them,” according to the marshal’s statment. “The mother was placed in a hospital where she will remain until she is well enough to travel back to the U.S.”

Authorities did not provide further details.

Reykjavik is nearly 3,000 miles from Canton.

U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott said in the statement the children would not have been found if not for the law enforcement personnel who dedicated themselves to help bring them home.

“The collaboration of effort in this case can’t be understated,” he said. “The ability to respond and recover these children abroad is an extremely difficult task. Our investigators did an outstanding job. We are lucky to have such strong and dedicated law enforcement partners and credit should be given to them for helping bring these children home.”