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Two Kidnapped Girls Found, Returned to Dad

Posted on: Saturday, 4 February 2006, 09:00 CST

LILLINGTON, N.C. - Two girls abducted more than six years ago were reunited with their father this week after they were found during a traffic stop, the FBI said Friday.

Authorities have said the girls, ages 6 and 8 at the time of the abduction, were picked up by their mother, Joyce Linda Murray Steyne, and her brother, Stephen Kirk Murray, on Dec. 17, 1999, from their father's home.

Despite a court order, the girls were not returned, authorities said. A 16-year-old son also taken from the home was later found abandoned at a hotel in Roanoke Rapids.

The girls, whom the FBI did not identify by name, were found in a car during a traffic stop Thursday in Lillington when a law enforcement officer became suspicious and identified Steyne.

The FBI said Steyne, 45, is charged with removal of minor children in North Carolina in violation of a custody order and an unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Authorities were still searching for Murray, the FBI said.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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