Two children missing for five days from a centre for vulnerable mothers and children in London have been found “safe and well” in Essex, police have said, but their mother remains missing.
Jamie-Leigh Kelly, 31, left a centre in north-west London on Tuesday with her three-year-old daughter and newborn baby boy.
The children were found at an address in Harwich in Essex on Sunday and were taken into police protection, the Metropolitan police said in a statement. The infants received precautionary medical attention in hospital.
“We are very pleased – and of course relieved – to have found the two children after extensive inquiries over the past few days,” said Det Supt Lewis Basford, who is overseeing the investigation. “They are safe and well and receiving precautionary medical attention.”
But police have been unable to locate Kelly and their search continues.
Police arrested a 63-year-old woman at the address on suspicion of child abduction, assisting an offender and perverting the course of justice, a force spokesperson told PA Media. A 52-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman are due to appear at Southend magistrates court on Monday, charged with two counts of child abduction.
Police urged Kelly or those helping her to come forward.
“Jamie-Leigh, I continue my direct appeal to you to contact us,” Basford said. “We are asking you to please pick up the phone and have a conversation with us so we can meet with you. Please contact us on 020 7175 0793 or go to a police station as quickly as possible.”