Updated at 2:50 p.m. — Attorney Jill Ochs has released a statement on behalf of her clients, Dan and Joy Newton, who are the grandparents of the two children.
“On Tuesday, February 18th, through the assistance of the United States Marshall’s, brother and sister Jaxson and Josephine Townsend were recovered in Daytona Beach, Florida, in the custody of their non-custodial father.
Their father, Gary Daniel Townsend was taken into custody on an outstanding Logan County warrant in the amount of $25,000.00.
The children were returned to their custodial grandparents, Joy and Dan Newton, on Tuesday the 18th in Florida.
A Judge in Logan County had previously granted Joy and Dan Newton emergency custody on January 13th after a finding was made that the children were in irreparable harm with their father. The children are safe and well.
Jill Ochs-Tontz, Attorney for Joy and Dan Newton
Kelli D. Kelso, Guardian AD Litem”
After searching for more than a month, two missing children have been found.
U.S. Marshalls found the two children in Daytona Beach, Florida. Related article: Children missing; believed to be with father
8-year-old Jaxon Daniel Townsend and 7-year-old Joesphine Joy Townsend were picked up by the grandparents.
An official statement is expected soon. Guthrie News Page will bring you those details as soon as they become available.
I Hope that they do this in New Hampshire
It’s great that they found the children. They deserve a good home with those they love and those that love them. Take care of them children are special God bless you and yours.
All that matters is they were found alive. Thank you god!
Absolutely terrific news ,I was so afraid they had done something to them kids ,thank God they are safe.
Thank God they are alive. All praises due to God.
I’m so glad they found them alive so much is happening in this world and it’s a same
This is truly remarkable lets thank god everyday for all the children in the world may god bless and allways keep them safe thanks to all incredible courages media who take the time and effort to make things happen in such a misserable and misleading world may god bless those who thecwill and courage to make a differance…amen..
This is one of the very best to hear about where the kids are alive and brought back where they were from safely. Which alot of the kids in the past were not so lucky. We are the children of God’s own image and God had made sure that the whoever the parents are, are to take the responsibility of insuring that they are safe and well cared for!!
I am not convinced that dad is such a bad guy after all yes he did have the children even though he was not supposed to according to the (system) but I have seen many times before when the so called system actually put the kids in a situation that was not healthy at all … I don’t know the whole situation just saying dad may not be as bad a guy as he is being made out to be !!
This is old news. They were found in 18 Feb. Over a week ago. Why post this as breaking news now?
It ia a very bless day when fine 2 girls and nothing happened. to them.Their so much mean things going on in this world.May the Lord be with them and the grandparents keep all safe amen.God bless each one.77
That’s great news! Now if only we could find the brother and sister from Idaho… All these missing kids…breaks my heart what some parents do to them when life gets “rough”. It’s not the childrens’ fault! They are innocents in these cases.
I just don’t get it! ?
It shouldn’t be so easy to take someone’s kids away! This father was so dangerous yet the children were found alive and well after being with him for over a month. I don’t know this individual case but I believe this speaks to some really dangerous trends in family law right now. You better believe that if my ex-husbands parents took my children that I’d be willing to break the law to get them back. Laws meant to protect children in danger are being used as weapons by malicious and bitter individuals against good parents. It’s wrong and it needs to end.
Great happy ending but how about the thousands of babies and children kidnaped from their parents by Trump. They are now in a private prison, taxpayers are paying the cost of a Luxury Hotel each night for each child. Trump gets a kickback, of course. These innocent live each day cold and hungry, they are given cold sandwiches. (hardened criminals get 3 hot meals a day!) The children have no hygiene and they are still in the clothes they wore when kidnapped and never washed. (Prisoners get a hygiene kit and have clean clothes) The kids have no activities or schooling so they cry all day or sit and stare ahead in a comatose state. (Prisoners have books, games and TV and classes are available) The children could have all the things the prisoners have but Trump and Miller thinks these kids should live like this because their parents fleeing from brutality brought their children with them. These innocent children are sexually abused by the guards. They will suffer from PTSD the rest of their lives. Now they are saying they can’t return the children to their families because it would cause them too much trauma! The real reason these kids may never see their families again is because Trump again took no information so they could be reunited. These are innocent babies and children that are left to take care of themselves, 8 yr olds and up are taking care of the babies and there is never enough diapers. Trump and Miller should be in prison for kidnapping and extreme child abuse. I cry over the cruelty these children have to endure because of Trump and Miller’s love of cruelty. The reason I know about this is because some Church Ladies that go down to try to help and witnessed this.
youre just a special kind of stupid arent ya. keep on trying, and dont forget to wear your helmet.
This story is such BS. Those kids were never in harm’s way. I’ve known the father for nearly two decades and he’s being falsely portrayed through the media.
Great news! Higher Power took care of them.
thank God Trump’s with the Lord and not with the devil Democrats
Lol…. Ok pedophile loving trumpster.
President Trump is taking great care of the children. This is all false i seen what those children and parent live better than i do!!!!
I know this man and his children. Jaxson and Josie do not want to be with the grandparents. They want to be with their dad. Dan would never harm his kids. He is just being screwed over by this court system. When he left the state he had custody. The judge said he was a fit parent. All you people just believe what ever is said. It’s all b’s.
How can I find out what happened to me when I was kidnapped as a young girl and how to find my real parents?
THANK YOU LORD JESUS.
THIS FIT FATHER’S CHILDREN WERE RIPPED AWAY FROM HIM MEANWHILE VIOLATING SEVERAL OF HIS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS. IT’S DUE TO AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAW KNOWN AS GRANDPARENTS RIGHTS. IF YOU SAY THAT GRANDPARENTS SHOULD HAVE LEGAL RIGHTS YOU COULDN’T BE MORE WRONG. IT CAUSES SO MANY FUCKED UP SITUATIONS WITH THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BECOME VICTIMS OF THIS UNCONSTITUTIONAL FUCKED UP LAW AND YES THIS DOES ABSOLUTELY HAPPEN TO FIT PARENTS. WAKE UP SHEEPLE!
FIRST LET ME SAY THAT I DO NOT KNOW THESE PEOPLE,
OR ANYTHING ABOUT THIS MATTER AND I AM NOT ON EITHER SIDE! Now, my comment is concerning the term “Grandparents Rights”. Contrary to popular belief there is no such LAW as “Grandparents Rights”. The Supreme Court has ruled on this matter. Now, there are certain circumstances where grandparents will be granted visitation rights through the court because they have been the primary caregivers for children for the majority of the childrens lives resulting from the parents either being absent or being found unfit and ultimately having regained legal custody. This is done in order to not further traumatize children by ripping them from someone thats always been in their lives. I don’t know if the way I wrote that makes sense but if you Google “Grandparents Rights” it will explain in detail. Also, at these childrens ages I would imagine that they have spoken with licensed examiners through the court and have made statements to the court or to a DHS employee investigating the matter before custody was just taken from the father. Theres no court in the U.S. that would just violate a persons constitutional rights by taking their children without some sort of violation. If that were the case, there would be thousands of attorneys jumping at the chance to represent him PRO-BONO because of the amount of publicity that they would get from a case like that. I mean he’d have a multimillion dollar case against the state that violated his parental and constitutional rights. You can’t tell me that he did everything right and they violated his rights and took his children and the only recourse he had was to kidnap them. Look, I don’t know this man or the Grandparents and I don’t even know the circumstances claimed by either party. What I do know is that the accusations made in the comments by people who are supporting and defending the father, just don’t happen without recourse. There are so many groups and attorneys out there that could have done so much more than he did by committing a crime. I used to give everyone the benefit of the doubt but after years in the criminal law profession, I have a new philosophy. Don’t let someone pee on your leg and tell you its rain!
This is a horrific violation of this father’s Constitutional rights. The wealthy selfish grandparents have been dragging this man through court the minute the mother died, and for years. Then when he took them and ran (because the court was not protecting his rights), you all made him out to be a monster fugitive who would harm his own kids. Absolutely disgraceful and disgusting. He was never found to be unfit and never lost his parental rights. He’s a good loving father and these despicable people place their own needs ahead of those poor kids. Where was the amber alert? Those kids were with their fit father and never in harms way. All you tax paying Americans (especially Conservatives) should be outraged that the govt is intervening without due process or just cause, and allows these people to destroy this man via legal abuse. Fit parents have rights. And this man had his ripped away because they have more money. It’s shameful and hopefully they’ll be held accountable someday. I pray those kids are given back to their rightful custodian, the father, and can begin to heal from this traumatic situation initiated by these grandparents. This is nothing more than a smear campaign, false narrative, and a kidnapping of those children. Research it for yourself. https://www.oscn.net/dockets/GetCaseInformation.aspx…
Here come the activist, here come the activist!
Stop spreading your lies. Jax and Josie are safe and doing awesome. The father is not the victim here. He did it all to himself. The “activist” believe they know the whole story because they jumped on OSCN and read some filings. The father continues to lie to them to seek sympathy. He messaged me then immediately blocked me because HE knows he’s lying and doesn’t want anyone telling the truth back to him. The news story is accurate.
He was found unfit once and since his last crack he will be again. He does not have custody. He’s guilty of several contempt charges. He’s such a victim.