Two sisters who vanished from their suburban Minneapolis home two years ago were found Wednesday at a western Minnesota horse farm.
Gianna and Samantha Rucki disappeared from Lakeville in April 2013. They are now 16 and 17 years old. Authorities found them Wednesday "safe and in seemingly good health," according to police.
Authorities have since suspected a network of people were taking care of the girls and helping to keep them in hiding. Their parents were in the midst of a bitter divorce and custody battle when the sisters disappeared.
Police and U.S. marshals arrived with a search warrant at White Horse Ranch Wednesday afternoon in hopes of finding evidence, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, but instead found the subjects of their investigation.
The girls’ father told the Star Tribune authorities called him around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to say his daughters were found. Since then, David Rucki has been working to find a home for the girls so the family can be reunited.
Earlier this month, bail was set at $1 million for their mother, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, who was suspected of hiding the sisters from their custodial father. The 50-year-old Minnesota woman appeared in Dakota County court on three counts of deprivation of parental rights.
Grazzini-Rucki was charged in August by warrant and arrested last month by U.S. Marshals in Florida. She waived extradition and remains in Dakota County Jail.
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Their mother’s arrest did not further the investigation, or provide any answers as to what happened to the sisters or if they were still alive. Her attorney said Grazzini-Rucki did not want her daughters to be found.
The network authorities believe helped hide the sisters is allegedly an underground group of people who are critical of the family court system, according to the Star Tribune.
White Horse Ranch’s website describes the compound as a nonprofit that aids abused children through work with horses, saying, "Broken children and hurting horses are able to bring each other to a place of healing through God’s unconditional love."
The ranch is about 160 miles outside Minneapolis. According to its website, founder Gina Dahlen and her husband, Doug, live on the ranch, the latter of whom told the Star Tribune Wednesday he was not allowed to comment on the case.
When they ran away in 2013, the teenagers accused their father of abusing them, according to the Star Tribune, but a psychologist ruled that there was no indication of abuse and instead their mother had brainwashed the children.
While in jail, Grazzini-Rucki maintains she had nothing to do with her daughter’s disappearance.
