Los Angeles authorities confirm children taken during supervised visit have been found

Authorities have found two children who were missing for just over two weeks after their parents took them in Los Angeles during a supervised visit.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department announced Friday night that siblings Wyman Bryant, 4, and Willow Bryant, 2, had been found.

The department had originally asked for the public's help finding the children on Aug. 19. According to authorities, the children were last seen around 3:10 p.m. on Aug. 14.

The children were with their parents, Tiffany Bryant and David James, for a "supervised visit" when “against child custody orders, the parents took the children and left the location,” authorities said in Facebook post requesting the public's help in finding them.

“There is concern for their well-being,” the sheriff’s office added at the time.

According to a detective working the case, authorities suspected the children were in California but their parents had been known to travel to other states, including Oregon, New Mexico, Arizona and Georgia.

Family abduction cases accounted for over 50% of Amber Alerts in 2022

According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children or NCMEC, there were 27,644 cases of missing children reported to the agency in 2022. Of those cases, 4.5% were family abductions. 

NCMEC also said that in 2022, 58% of all Amber Alerts issued were for family abduction cases.

Saleen Martin is a reporter on Paste BN's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.