A mother begged police to check in on her two children who were visiting with their father in Nebraska after she hadn’t heard from them in days. They were later
found dead and the father fled to California, according to police.
Mary Nielsen called police on Saturday evening to check on her children, 5-year-old Emily and 3-year-old Theodore, after not hearing from Adam Price. The two were involved in divorce proceedings.
Nielsen said she spoke to the children on Thursday evening, but was not able to reach them or their father on Friday or Saturday.
Nielsen lives in Illinois and Price lives in Bellevue, Nebraska.
Bellevue police tried to make contact with Price at his home on Saturday evening to no avail. They tried again on Sunday morning and received no response. They said that they saw nothing suspicious and did not force entry into the home.
“We did not have any information telling us we had reason to believe the children were in danger,” said Bellevue police spokesman Capt. Andy Jashinski. “The only concern was the mom had not spoken with the kids… in 48 hours.”
Nielsen resorted to asking a friend to check in on the children after police were unable to do anything.
That person found the bodies of the children at about 11 a.m. on Saturday.
While Price was under court order to provide daily contact between the children and the mother while they were in his home, police said that was not sufficient cause to enter the man’s home without permission.
Price was arrested on Sunday in the beachfront city of Pacifica in California, near San Francisco.
He faces two felony charges of child abuse resulting in death. Police did not immediately elaborate on the specific causes of death of the children.
Nielson told the World-Herald that Price had been “abusive, controlling and manipulative.”
Autopsies on the two children were performed on Monday, but results were still pending on Tuesday.
A GoFundMe campaign to help the mother with the funeral expenses had raised over $35,000 by Tuesday.
Here’s a local news video about the disturbing incident:
Bellevue Police investigating after two children found dead
www.youtube.com