2 CA Children Found Following 'Armed And Dangerous' Amber Alert

LOS ANGELES, CA — Two young girls were found safe on Thursday after police said they were abducted Wednesday by their father, prompting an Amber Alert across much of Central and Southern California, authorities said.

Jonathan Alexis Maldonado-Cruz, 23, was taken into custody, the Kings County Sheriff's Department said. He is suspected of fatally shooting the girls' mother on Tuesday in Hanford, according to the Kings County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities did not disclose where they were found.

After Maldonado-Cruz fled with the children — Arya, 3, and Alana, 2 — he was described as "armed and dangerous," the California Highway Patrol said.

The children's mother was found dead from a gunshot wound at a home in Hanford on Tuesday, ABC 7 Eyewitness News reported. Hanford is in Kings County, about 85 miles north of Bakersfield.

Kings County Sheriff's Office detectives believe the toddlers were taken from their home near Fourth Place and Orchard Drive by their father, Jonathan Alexis Maldonado-Cruz.

"Thank you to everyone who assisted in spreading the word to helplocate Alana and Arya," the Kings County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook. "The case developed quickly thanks to the support of the community.''