BELLEVUE, Neb. — The father of 2 young children found dead in his eastern Nebraska house, where they had been staying for a court-ordered visitation with him, was arrested four states away in California, police said.
Authorities in Bellevue, south of Omaha, stated 5-year-old Emily Price and 3-year-old Theodore Price were found dead Sunday afternoon in 35-year-old Adam Price’s house, but he was not there when the kids were found.
Police have not said how the children died, but said the deaths were being treated as”suspicious” Adam Price was detained Sunday evening in Pacifica, near San Francisco, and he awaits extradition to Nebraska, police said.
He was held on a felony fugitive arrest warrant, but no charges were logged to the online Nebraska court system instead of Monday morning. It was not immediately known if he had a lawyer who might talk on his behalf.
The children’s mother, Mary Nielsen, told colleagues that she and Adam Price have been in the process of being divorced and that the kids were at their father’s house for court-ordered visitation.
Nielsen, who had moved to Illinois with the kids, called police more than once and went on societal websites to plead for information regarding her children’s whereabouts after not hearing from them because Thursday. Nielsen said her husband was under court order to provide her everyday communication with the kids during his visits.
Bellevue police went into Adam Price’s home — late Saturday night and early Sunday morning — in Nielsen’s request to check on the kids, but left when no one answered the door. Bellevue police spokesman Capt. Andy Jashinske stated in a news release that officers did not have sufficient reason to force an entry to the house.
A friend of Nielsen’s went to Price’s home around 11 a.m. Sunday in her petition and went indoors after finding the door unlocked. The friend called police after finding the children’s bodies.
Nielsen told that the Omaha World-Herald that her kids had been”joyful, sweet, loving,” and described Emily as incredibly smart and Theodore as a standard little boy who liked playing superheroes.
“I wish I could hold you one more time and explain to you just how much I adore you,” she explained in a Facebook article Monday.
