Two Abducted Children Found; Parents Held

Two children whose parents allegedly kidnapped them at gunpoint from a foster home in North Carolina were found safe Wednesday in southwestern Virginia, police said.

An Amber Alert had been issued Saturday for James Paul Chambers, 2, and his sister, Breanna Chambers, 11 months. They had been placed in foster care last year after a drug raid at the family home.

The children were found in a mobile home in this rural, mountainous area near the North Carolina and Tennessee lines, said Grayson County Sheriff Jerry D. Wilson. The parents and two other people were taken into custody, Wilson said.

North Carolina authorities said the children were taken from a foster home in Watauga County, N.C., early Saturday by their father, James Lee Canter, 28, and their mother, Alisha Chambers, 18. Canter brandished a gun, they said.

That day, the couple were seen in Johnson County, Tenn., but only their car, containing a rifle and a handgun, was found, authorities had said.

Canter has been a fugitive since March, when the family’s home was raided and authorities said they discovered a methamphetamine lab.

Chambers was arrested at the time and charged with manufacturing meth and maintaining a dwelling for its manufacture. She posted bail about two months later.

The Watauga County social services agency took custody of the children after the raid.