Children Who Drove Off in Van Found Safe

Sheriff’s deputies today found six children reported missing when the eldest, a 13-year-old girl, drove off from a parking lot while their foster parents were inside a hospital.

“Everybody’s safe. Everybody’s in good health,” said San Diego Police Sgt. Ron Brown. The van was spotted at 9:30 a.m. by a sheriff’s deputy in Encinitas.

The seaside town is about 20 miles north of San Diego, where the children disappeared Monday afternoon. A witness saw the teen-ager drive the 1978 Chevrolet van out of the hospital parking lot.

Investigators from the child abuse unit were en route to the police substation in Encinitas to talk with the children, said police spokesman Bill Robinson. The children’s names were withheld.

Spent Night in Van

A determination will be made whether the parents were “remiss” in their actions and where the children should be placed, Robinson said. It is unlikely that any action will be taken against the teen-ager, but that has yet to be determined, he said.

Police Sgt. Roy Stamper said that the girl had driven to a friend’s home in Encinitas and that the children spent the night in the van outside the house. The mother of the friend heard a news report about the missing van and called sheriff’s deputies.

The youngest child, an 8-month-old baby, had been described as “medically fragile,” Sgt. Dan Luth said. He did not know exactly what medical condition the baby might be in.

Two of the children are age 12. The others are 4 years and 19 months.

Stolen Car Network

Police alerted law enforcement authorities in San Diego County to watch for a yellow 1978 van with red, black and orange stripes. The California license plate, numbered 2EDU935, was entered into a national computer network of stolen cars.

It is not known whether the children had any money, Luth said.

“As far as we know, the foster parents took all the kids to Kaiser Hospital where the father had to see the doctor,” Brown said. “Apparently the children wanted to stay in the van, found the key, and drove off.”