October 17, 2017 - 4:28 PM
TONGANOXIE, Kan. - The Latest on three missing foster children in Kansas being found (all times local):
6:15 p.m.
Police have released a man who was considered a person of interest after three sisters who disappeared in August from their Kansas foster home were found safe.
Authorities did not release details about where the 12-, 14- and 15-year old girls were found but police said they were safe.
The 48-year-old man was taken into custody in Kansas City, Missouri. Police had said the girls might be in danger if they were with him. Kansas City police released him Tuesday morning after Tonganoxie officials said they didn't have enough evidence to charge him.
KCTV5 reports police said the man was trying to help the girls after they lied to him and said they were being abused at their foster home. Police say there is no evidence the man abused or hurt the girls.
Police have said the girls ran away from their foster home Aug. 26.
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8:50 a.m.
Authorities have arrested a man and found three sisters whose disappearance in August from their Kansas foster home touched off a larger debate about runaway foster children.
Tonganoxie police chief Jeffery Brandau says police in Kansas City, Missouri, arrested the 48-year-old man early Tuesday, hours after identifying him as a "person of interest" and saying the 12-, 14- and 15-year-old girls would be "in danger" if they were with him. Brandau says the man is being detained on a 24-hour investigative hold.
The case led to broader concerns among lawmakers who learned last week during a Statehouse meeting that more than 70 foster children are missing in Kansas. The number of missing represents about 1 per cent of the state's foster care population, which is in line with the national average.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017