Nebraska father accused of killing son, 3, and daughter, 5, before fleeing to California

Authorities have located in California a father who went missing after his two children were found dead in his Nebraska home.

According to the Bellevue Police Department, between 9:50 p.m. May 15 and 8:59 a.m. the following morning, officers twice went to the home of Adam L. Price, 35, to do a wellness check on his two children, Theodore, 3, and Emily, 5, at the request of their mother, Mary Nielsen.

“She said she hadn't heard from them in a couple days and she's required to by court order, so officers responded here," BPD Capt. Andy Jashinske said, according to Omaha’s KETV. 

However, the officers did not observe any circumstances that would have allowed them to force entry into the home.

“This is pretty close to that worst case scenario, Jashinske noted. “However, we have to think about if we changed our policy, to violate rights of the citizens of our community, that would be much worse.”

Just after 11 a.m. on May 16, emergency responders were again called back to the property after a family friend discovered the two children dead, KETV reported. 

Police did not reveal how the juveniles died and said the victims’ father “was not present” and his car was gone.

A license plate reader in Reno, Nevada, spotted Price’s Mazda CX7, and he was later located and arrested in Pacifica, California. He was being held without bond at the Maguire Correctional Facilty in San Mateo County on a felony fugitive arrest warrant. 

The Sarpy County Attorney's Office in Nebraska has charged Price with two counts of felony child abuse resulting in death.

Jashinske called the young children’s deaths “a very sad circumstance.”

A license plate reader in Reno, Nevada, spotted Price’s Mazda CX7, and he was later located and arrested in Pacifica, California. He was being held without bond at the Maguire Correctional Facilty in San Mateo County on a felony fugitive arrest warrant.