Two young sisters who were taken from their home in Kings County by their father after he allegedly killed their mother have been located, the California Highway Patrol said.
The girls, 3-year-old Arya Maldonado and 2-year-old Alana, were the subject of an Amber Alert that was sent out to mobile devices across Southern California Wednesday morning.
Their father, Jonathan Maldonado Cruz, 23, is believed to have shot and killed his ex, the girls’ mother, at a home in Hanford, located about 200 miles north of Los Angeles, the Kings County Sheriff’s Department said.
Family members identified the victim as 22-year-old Madeline Rose Cuevas of Hanford, according to KTLA sister station KSEE.
Authorities were concerned that Cruz may have fled the country, taking the two young girls with him to Mexico.
On Thursday, the CHP canceled the Amber Alert for Arya and Alana, announcing that they had been located.
The Kings County Sheriff’s Department said the two girls were safe and their father was taken into custody with the help of state and federal law enforcement partners.
The investigation remains ongoing.
The Amber Alert system was founded in the 1990s in Texas in response to the kidnapping and killing of 9-year-old Amber Hagerman. Since then, all 50 states have established alert systems and the federal government has partnered with telecom and social media companies to help widely broadcast the emergency in hopes of preventing further tragedies.
As of December 2024, more than 1,200 children were successfully recovered through the Amber Alert system and 195 children were rescued because of wireless emergency alerts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In California, the CHP is the sole agency authorized to activate Amber Alerts, which do not require prior registration. To receive future Amber Alerts independent of your smart device, follow the CHP Alerts page on social media.
