Murdered Woman's 3 Missing Kids Found at NM Motel

A huge sigh of relief in a troubling case came Wednesday as authorities found the three missing kids of a murdered woman in a New Mexico motel, the Los Angeles Times reports. Kimberly Harvill was found slain on the side of a California road on Aug. 14, and her three children, all under the age of 6, were nowhere to be found. Last seen with the kids: Harvill's half-sister, 22-year-old Brittany Humphrey, and 27-year-old Joshua Robertson, who the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says are "persons of interest" in Harvill's death and who allegedly snatched the kids either sometime before or after their mom was killed. The children—2-year-old Joslynn Watkins, 3-year-old Brayden Watkins, and 5-year-old Rylee Watkins—were left with a Good Samaritan at the motel outside of Albuquerque, per a sheriff's official, and that person contacted the police, the Santa Clarita Valley Signal reports.

Robertson and Humphrey are thought to be armed and dangerous (Robertson has a criminal past, including an arrest for possessing a firearm) and heading east, and authorities say they're traveling with a baby. Per KABC, Robertson is described as Humphrey's husband on her Facebook page, though sources have also referred to him as her boyfriend. The two are thought to be on the run in Harvill's 1999 Ford Expedition, possibly still bearing its California license plates with the number 7BEK024. Because it's believed the dad of Harvill's children's is dead—her neighbor tells KABC their father took his own life—they'll be brought back to California and turned over to the Department of Children and Family Services. Hannah Anderson, a friend of Harvill's, tells KFSN that Harvill was a "great mom" and "loved her kids more than life." (More New Mexico stories.)