Amish Girls Are Safe; Search Continues -- For Abductors

Delila and Fannie Miller, two Amish children who disappeared from their family’s roadside farm stand Aug. 13, are home.

St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain told syracuse.com that the two girls, age 6 and 12, came to a house in Richmond, more than 20 miles away from their home, even as the massive search continued that had been underway since the girls were reported missing Wednesday evening.

Other family members had been doing the evening milking when the two girls, wearing blue dresses, blue aprons and black bonnets, went to the produce stand to wait on a customer at about 7:20 p.m.. When the customer drove away, the girls were gone—and a neighbor said he had seen a passenger throw something into the back seat and then climb in.

Channel 7 News WNYF reports that the girls were abducted by two men who took them to a house nearby, told them to stay there, and left. The girls began looking for help and were recognized by a man who returned them to their home.

News reports said the girls were checked out in a local hospital and spoke to police last night. They were cold and wet but OK, authorities said.

St. Lawrence County sheriff Kevin Wells told Channel 7 News reporter John Friot he’s “confident” that law enforcement will catch up with the men.

“We have the safe return of the two girls, but at the same time we have a lot of work to do. There’s still been a crime committed here, these girls were still taken away from their homes,” Wells said.