A mother has been arrested on two counts of murder after her son and daughter were found dead in a vehicle in northern Indiana, police said.
Elkhart police said Monday evening they believe the children found dead that afternoon are siblings Liliana Hernandez, 7, and Rene Pasztor, 6. Police had issued an Amber Alert for the children earlier Monday, saying they were “believed to be in extreme danger.”
Police released no details about how the children died. Autopsies are scheduled Tuesday morning in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Elkhart police said the children’s mother, 29-year-old Amber Pasztor, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was arrested Monday on two counts of murder. She was being held in the Elkhart County jail.
The mother does not have legal custody of the children, police said. The Allen County Sheriff’s Department in Fort Wayne, Indiana, said the children were taken from Fort Wayne. Police declined to say who the children were living with when they were abducted or why they were taken.
The Associated Press left phone and email messages with the Elkhart County prosecutor’s office seeking comment early Tuesday.
Elkhart police Sgt. Chris Snyder told The Elkhart Truth that the mother cooperated with officers as she was handcuffed and didn’t appear to be suffering from any physical injuries.
“She wasn’t resistant at all,” Snyder said. “She actually approached the officer and stopped and made contact with him.”
The statewide Amber Alert was issued at 12:51 p.m. Monday after the two children were reported missing, last seen at 6:21 a.m. EST in Fort Wayne. Officials believed the children were abducted by their non-custodial mother, Amber Pasztor, and were in danger.
At 5:25 p.m., an officer was walking out the Elkhart Police Department and was stopped by a person driving a vehicle, who told the officer that there were two dead people inside the vehicle. The children were found in the backseat and the driver was identified as Amber Pasztor, according to a news release. The car matched the vehicle information in the Amber Alert.
Police are still looking for 65-year-old Frank Macomber, who may have additional information. An autopsy has been scheduled for Tuesday morning in Kalamazoo, Mich. The investigation is ongoing.
