CALGARY — Two Alberta children who were the subject of an Amber Alert in July have been found safe in British Columbia after an investigation spanning multiple provinces, Alberta RCMP announced Friday.Lanakai and Karl Morrison were located on Thursday at a rural property in West Kelowna, B.C., after approximately two and a half months of investigation.Police said the children were found in good health and did not appear to be in distress when they were located.“They seemed to be happy young children,” Staff Sgt. Derek Gladdish, who commanded the investigation, told reporters Friday.The children are currently in the care of British Columbia's Ministry of Children and Family Development, with arrangements being made to transfer them to Alberta Children's Services.Krista Morrison and Daniel Ludwig were also located and arrested on outstanding warrants. both have been charged with contravening a custody order and remain in custody in British Columbia..The investigation began July 7 after Lanakai was reported missing from Valhalla Centre, near Beaverlodge. An Amber Alert was subsequently issued for Lanakai as police searched for the children and the adults.The alert did not ultimately include Karl. Gladdish explained Friday that by the time police sought to add Karl to the Amber Alert, the criteria for the alert were no longer met.Karl was subject to a separate apprehension order from Children's Services, while the order involving Lanakai came through family court.The Amber Alert was cancelled several days after it was issued, while the RCMP investigation continued. Gladdish said the Amber Alert program is separate from the RCMP and that police do not determine whether an alert is issued or cancelled.“The criteria wasn't met according to the four pieces of criteria that the Amber Alert has in place,” he said.Gladdish added the RCMP provided information to the provincial Amber Alert program, which made the decision to rescind the alert.Approximately 70 investigators, along with civilian support staff, worked on the investigation in Alberta..The RCMP Southeast District Emergency Response Team in B.C., federal policing, Air Services, and investigators with the West Kelowna and Kelowna detachments were among the units involved in locating the children.Gladdish said there was no single technology-driven breakthrough that led police to the children. Instead, he credited investigators with following leads, examining backgrounds and associates, speaking with people and using analytics.When asked about social media posts that appeared to show the children during the search, Gladdish said he could not speak to the adults' motivations for posting the videos.He said police's priority was ''establishing the children's well-being and ultimately recovering them safely.''The investigation continued across provincial and territorial boundaries, with RCMP investigators pursuing leads and conducting searches in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as coordinating with specialized units in the Northwest Territories and Yukon.Both Morrison and Ludwig have been charged with contravening a custody order and remain in custody in British Columbia.
