Two young children reported missing and endangered from Florida were found safe in Newark on Tuesday, according to police.
The two children were found shortly around 2:30 p.m. on the 6500 block of Thornton Avenue and were put into protective custody due to a Florida court order, said Newark Police Cmdr. Michael Carroll.
The pair was reported missing from Melbourne, Fla., police said.
Carroll said both parents of the children were present when the toddlers were found and that they were cooperative.
Media outlets in Florida reported that a search for the family of four launched after police in Melbourne, Fla. uncovered a potential suicide pact.
Melbourne poilce confirmed that the family was found safe at an aquaintance's house in Newark Tuesday in a press conference aired by FloridaToday.com.
Central Florida 13 reported that the family, which included a 2-year-old girl and 4-year-old girl, was sought after authorities learned “the parents made a suicide pact and planned to kill their two young children.”
Florida media outlets reported that the parents traveled from Vietnam to the Scott Center for Autism Treatment in Florida to seek treatment for their 4-year-old daughter who is autistic.
Police told Florida Today that the parents appeared to have made a pact to kill their two daughters and themselves if the treatment was ineffective or the costs were too high.
The parents — identified as James Firth, 43, and Mai Dang Firth, 31, — and the children were located in the Newark home after several tips led them to the family, according to Florida Today.
Florida Department of Children and Families are continuing to investigate but police told Florida Today reported that "police said the parents are not facing criminal charges."
Click here to watch the press conference on FloridaToday.com.
