By Josh Margolis
BLAINE COUNTY, Mont. (NMB) – The Blaine County Sheriff’s Office says they have safely located four South Carolina children that had been declared missing.
Sheriff John Colby says his Department was contacted by authorities in South Carolina and advised that the Clemmons family may be in the area of Savoy.
Fox Carolina reported that the biological parents, who did not have legal custody, had violated a court order by taking the children from South Carolina. They also report that a Family Court Judge ordered the kids enter protective custody once found.
The Sheriff’s Office had dealt with the family earlier in the week and knew the general area where they were staying, but a local resident helped authorities find their exact location.
Authorities from the Sheriff’s Office arrived at the trailer the family was in just before noon on Thursday. The family stepped out of the trailer and the children (ages 3, 8, 10 and 12) were turned over to Montana Child Protective Services without incident. Officials from the Sheriff’s Office were at the scene for roughly an hour.
Authorities are now working to get the children back to South Carolina.
The parents were not taken into custody. No weapons were found at the scene.
As for why the family fled to rural Blaine County, Sheriff John Colby said the father told them they were looking at real estate in the area, but it is unclear if that is actually the case, as Colby says the area they were found in was, “off the beaten path.”
