SCITUATE, R.I. (AP) - The Latest on two sisters reported missing in 1985 being found and their mother being charged (all times local):
5 p.m.
Neighbors in Texas of a woman charged with snatching her two girls in 1985 in Rhode Island say they are shocked at the revelations.
Jesse and Fran Vaughan live in the same condominium development in affluent West Houston as Elaine Yates, who is accused of taking the two girls now ages 32 and 35.
AP reporters knocked on the doors of the addresses listed in records for Yates in West Houston and her daughters in Deer Park and Baytown. No one answered at any of the three residences.
“It is a shocker,” Fran Vaughan says of the charges against her neighbor. Yates seemed like a nice lady, Fran Vaughan says.
The neighbor says Yates was in charge of putting together the newsletter for the homeowner’s association. “Come to think of it, I don’t know if anyone knew her that well,” Fran Vaughan says.
The Vaughans, who have lived at the complex for 17 years, say they weren’t aware that Yates even had daughters.
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2 p.m.
The father of two girls reported missing in Rhode Island in 1985 and now found in Texas says he wants to see his children, and he is waiting for them to get in touch.
Police announced Tuesday that Russell Yates’ daughters, Kelly and Kimberly, were found and their mother was arrested in Houston.
Asked whether the mother should be prosecuted, Yates says that won’t help anyone.
The girls were taken from their Warwick home when they were 10 months old and 3 years old.
Russell Yates tells reporters he has always been trying to find his children. He was told by police of Elaine Yates’ arrest on Monday.
Police said they gave his information to his daughters so they could get in touch with them. Their father says now, it’s up to them.
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1 p.m.
Rhode Island State Police say two children reported missing in 1985 have been located in the Houston area and their mother has been charged with snatching them.
Police said Tuesday an anonymous tip two days before Christmas led them to Kimberly and Kelly Yates, and their 69-year-old mother, Elaine.
They said the mother had been living in Houston under the name Liana Waldberg. She was arrested on Monday without incident and faces arraignment Wednesday in Rhode Island.
Kelly was 10-months old when she went missing. Her sister was 3. Kelly, now 32, and Kimberly, now 35, were not living with their mother but were in the Houston area.
Police say their father has been informed and is “relieved.” It’s up to his daughters whether to contact him.
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This story has been corrected to show the name the mother was using was Liana, not Leina.
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