4 Mesa children reported missing found in Texas, father arrested

PHOENIX — Four Valley children who were reported missing earlier this week were found safe in Texas, authorities said Wednesday.

The children were with their non-custodial father, Devon Washington, 31, at a restaurant in El Paso, the Mesa Police Department said in a press release.

Washington was arrested and booked into the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. He faces four counts of child abduction from a state agency.

The Texas Department of Children’s Services will care for the children until they can be transferred back to Arizona DCS.

On Sunday, the children and Washington met through a supervised visit with a chaperone at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, police said.

The chaperone said Washington and the children left the parking lot and Washington wouldn’t pick up phone calls.

A Missing or Endangered Person Alert was issued for Washington and the four children as a result.

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