Missing mother and children found safe

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/oct/17/missing-mother-children-found-safe

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A mother and her four children have been found safe and well after a judge ordered a nationwide search for them.

The hunt for Jennifer Jones and Jessica, Tomas, Eva, and David Palacin Jones, aged 14, 12, nine and eight respectively, was sparked after the mother failed to obey a court order to return the children to to their father in Spain.

All five were found at 11am on Wednesday in Gwent, more than 50 miles away from Jennifer Jones's home in Llanelli, Wales.

After losing a legal battle in the high court against her divorced Spanish husband, Tomas Palacin Cambra, Jones left London and is thought to have travelled home.

She and her children were not at the property when police and social services called, however, prompting a judge to release their details and launch an appeal for information.

Dyfed Powys police said the family had been found and that Palacin Cambra was "overjoyed" with the news.

A Gwent police spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that the four children missing from the Llanelli area were found in the Gwent area just after 11am this morning.

"Police and local authorities are now working together with family members to ensure the ongoing safety of the children."

Justice Roderic Wood, who asked on Tuesday for the public's help finding Jones and the children, is due to analyse developments at a high court hearing in London on Wednesday.

Lawyers representing Palacin Cambra updated the judge at a private hearing earlier before Jones was found.