Amber Alert canceled after 3 missing San Pablo children found safe

Three children reportedly abducted in San Pablo after their father was found shot to death have been found unharmed, authorities said Tuesday.

The children were found sometime late Monday or early Tuesday in Richmond with their biological mother, Alicia Ortez, 35, said Michael Lambton, a dispatcher for Richmond-area law enforcement.

An Amber Alert had been issued for the children -- ages 12, 6, and 2 -- on Monday when their father was found shot to death in his backyard in the 1600 block of 16th Street in San Pablo, police said. The father’s identity has not been released.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children canceled the alert about 12:45 a.m. Tuesday, according to its website.

Ortez was named as a suspect in the children’s abduction but has not been named a suspect in their father’s killing. The children were found unharmed but no other details of their recovery were immediately available.

The children’s father was kind and actively engaged with his kids, neighbors told KXTV.

“He seemed like a really nice dad. He was always with his kids playing, bringing them food,” neighbor Cristian Sotelo said.

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna.