Amber Alert Ends, Kids Safe After Being Abducted at Gunpoint

Kids found safe 70 miles from home in Philadelphia

Two young children, allegedly abducted at gunpoint by their father and grandfather, are back in their mother's arms following a 12 hour ordeal that resulted in an Amber Alert and multi-state manhunt.

"It's a very difficult situation. I haven't been able to get over it," the mother, Erica Aquino, said in Spanish.

Her 3-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son, from Lancaster, Pa., were found safe around 7:30 a.m. on Friday in Philadelphia -- some 70 miles from home. NBC10 is no longer identifying the children because they are the victims of a crime.

A Pennsylvania State Trooper spotted the black Nissan Altima, being driven by their father, Eddie Ahorrio, Jr., along the Roosevelt Boulevard (U.S. Route 1) where it meets the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76) and pulled it over, state police said.

Hours earlier, state police issued an Amber Alert for Ahorrio, Jr.'s son and daughter after they were allegedly abducted at gunpoint by the 23-year-old man and their 47-year-old grandfather, Eddie Ahorrio, Sr.

The children were taken from a home along Almanac Avenue in Lancaster, Pa. at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and driven away in the black Nissan Altima with Pa. registration JJG-8170, state police said.

Lancaster Police say the men pointed a gun at Aquino, her boyfriend and that man's15-year-old daughter before hitting the boyfriend in the head with a pipe wrench. The men then grabbed the boy and girl and fled.

Authorities believed the men were planning to travel to Massachusetts or New Jersey. But before they could exit the state, Trooper Daniel Woody, a rookie, saw the car, pulled it over and found the two children sleeping in the backseat.

"In situations like this we operate under the assumption that the worst can happen. Luckily, they were taken into custody without incident and the children were safely recovered," he said.

After the men were taken to the state police barracks along Belmont Avenue in Philadelphia, police at the scene could be seen carrying the children from the Altima and into a waiting unmarked vehicle.

The children were turned over the Lancaster City Police officers and then reunited with their family.

Both men have also been taken back to Lancaster where they were charged with kidnapping, robbery and aggravated assault.

Pictured: Alleged abductor Eddie Ahorrio, Jr.

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