Four missing siblings found after birth parents fled SC with them, police say

Four missing siblings who were in “imminent and substantial danger” after their biological parents took them and fled in South Carolina have been found safe, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

Leslie and Barbara Clemmons don’t have legal custody of the children — and ran off with them “to avoid court action,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

Authorities asked the public to keep their eyes open for the Clemmons’ and siblings Leslie, 12, Brady, 10, Deborah “Hattie Jean,” 8, and Patricia “Carly,” 3.

Police believed the Clemmons’ fled up the East Coast, and may have headed west toward South Dakota at one point.

“A South Carolina Family Court Judge has ordered that the four minor children be taken into protective custody once located,” the sheriff’s office said.

This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 3:32 PM with the headline "Four missing siblings found after birth parents fled SC with them, police say."