Update: After large-scale search, missing children located in Bluffton

Three children who went missing from a Bluffton apartment complex, launching a large-scale search involving canines and a helicopter, were located in woods near where they disappeared, and are safe, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office said.

The children, Audrey Valez, 8, Taylor Walsh, 7, and Leihum Valez, 3, were last seen around 5 p.m. in the parking lot of the Reserve at Woodbridge near the L-Building.

Personnel with the Sheriff's Office, Bluffton Police Department, Bluffton Township Fire District, Chatham County Emergency Management Air Support, SC Department of Natural Resources and FBI searched the area of the complex with assistance from dogs and a helicopter.

The children were found unharmed in the wooded area around the complex, the Sheriff’s Office reported around 11:30 p.m.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 8:33 PM with the headline "Update: After large-scale search, missing children located in Bluffton."