Teen sisters missing since 2013 found safe at Minn. horse ranch
ALEXANDRIA, Minn. -- Minnesota authorities say they have located two teen sisters from Lakeville who have been missing for more than two years.
A lieutenant from the suburban police department told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the girls were found Wednesday at a horse ranch in western Minnesota.
Gianna and Samantha Rucki, now 16 and 17 years old respectively, hadn't been seen in public since April 2013. They reportedly ran away in the midst of a custody dispute between their parents. The girls' mother, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, was arrested last month in Florida but wouldn't provide information on their whereabouts to investigators.
The girls had reportedly accused their father of abusing them. David Rucki, the girls' father, has denied abusing the girls, reports the Star Tribune, and a Dakota County judge in November 2013 granted him full custody, finding no evidence of abuse.
Lakeville police have accused Grazzini-Rucki of helping her daughters get away from their father, according to the Star Tribune. Grazzini-Rucki is in the Dakota County jail after her arrest on charges of felony deprivation of parental rights.
Police and U.S. marshals executed a search warrant at the White Horse Ranch Wednesday hoping to find evidence that could lead them to the girls - but instead, found the sisters themselves, reports the Star Tribune.
Police suspected a network of family court critics was hiding the girls, according to the paper. Officials were reportedly led to the ranch by evidence found at the home of a St. Cloud woman who is a supporter of the "Protective Parent" movement, critics of the family court system who argue abusive parents are frequently awarded custody.
The ranch, about 160 miles west of the Twin Cities, describes itself as a nonprofit where abused children can heal by working with horses, reports the paper.
Grazzini-Rucki's lawyer Michelle MacDonald told the Star-Tribune the woman wasn't involved with her daughters' disappearance.
"I am in disbelief," MacDonald told the paper. "I hope [the girls] are reunited with their mother and brothers and sister, and even their father."