Two Winnipeg siblings who went missing nearly four years ago have been found in Mexico.
CTV Winnipeg's Stacy Ashley reported Saturday night that Dominic and Abby Maryk were located living under lock-and-key in Guadalajara.
Police allege that the children's father, Kevin Maryk, abducted the children and took them out of the country in August, 2008.
At the time, Dominic was 7 and Abby was 5.
On Thursday, a Mexican resident watching a television report about the children's story realized he recognized the children.
A private investigator in Louisiana who had been working on the case, Wilhelm von Mayer, said the man tried to go to Mexican officials, but to no avail.
"He saw them and said, ‘Wow, I know those kids, they're my neighbours," von Mayer told CTV Winnipeg in a telephone interview from Louisiana. "So he reported them to the Mexican police, the army and everybody he could, but nobody would listen to him."
Von Mayer and officials with the FIND Foundation in Mexico followed up on the tip, and a raid was subsequently conducted on the home where the children were living.
Von Mayer said the children spent their days behind locked doors, and were not allowed to attend school.
Ashley reported Saturday evening that the children were scheduled to fly back home to Winnipeg.
In December, the children's mother, Emily Cablek, said her children were always with her, even though she had no idea where they were.
"They're always in my heart," Cablek told Ashley. "I'm always looking for them. I won't ever stop looking for them."
When they return home, the children will be greeted by relieved family members, as well as a Christmas tree with four years' worth of gifts to open. Their grandmother has not taken down her tree from the year the children went missing, and has put new gifts underneath each year.
With a report from CTV Winnipeg's Stacy Ashley
