Deputies and fate help bring missing children home safe

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Linda Avila is a grateful grandmother.

"I'm happy," she said, motioning to her house. "Baby inside!"

Her two grandchildren Jordan and Leah Avila are back home after a harrowing ordeal on Wednesday. The kids were allegedly taken by their maternal grandmother and two other relatives. They were then driven northward in a small rundown RV. By sheer chance, the RV broke down, and two Harris County Sheriff's deputies pulled up.

"It just seemed like a family that needed help, so we just called a tow truck to get it out of the way," said Deputy Josue Herrera, of the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

But the deputies didn't know there was an active Amber Alert. So the children, the suspects and the older model RV all ended up at a Spring area motel. Motel residents recognized the children when Eyewitness News showed them the pictures.

Fortunately, the deputies watched the local news when they got home from work. They realized what happened, and returned to the motel. The suspects were arrested without incident. The children promptly sent back home.

Now authorities are trying to figure out why the Amber Alert wasn't sent out to the entire sheriff's department.

"For some reason we didn't get that either, so we can't say," said Dep. Thomas Gilliland, spokesperson for the department.

The good news -- two kids are safe and the suspects are now under arrest.