Mom, 2 Daughters Found Safe, In Wisconsin
Updated 10/15/12 - 12:42 p.m.
(CBS) -- A Volo, Ill. woman and her two young daughters, reported missing for more than a week, were found alive Sunday in the Wisconsin Dells.
Aneta Marsek walked into a gas station around 7 p.m. Sunday requesting the attendant call police. She told Wisconsin Dells police she believed people were looking for her and she had been reported missing.
Marsek took police to her vehicle, where her two children were inside, the release said. She said she'd been living in her vehicle in a secluded wooded area off of County Road H and Fitzgerald Roads since she had arrived in the Dells days earlier.
Lake County detectives learned Marsek did not leave the Volo area until sometime Monday morning. She said that she needed to "get away" and that the Dells area reminded her of "childhood memories".
Marsek's father, John Czaja, told CBS 2's Courtney Gousman that his daughter was being treated at a hospital early Monday. He would not disclose where his daughter is being treated, and would only say she "needs help."
Asked why his daughter would go to the Dells without telling anyone, Czaja said he could not answer that.
Marsek and her children were taken to St. Clair Hospital in Baraboo where they were found to be in good health. Both children were released to the custody of their father, Dan Marsek. Aneta Marsek was taken to Winnebago Mental Health Facility in Oshkosh.
"We are relieved that this had a good ending," Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said in a statement.
Still, another official in Curran's office tells WBBM Newsradio that the department racked up expenses by having detectives work around the clock. The sheriff's office has asked Lake County prosecutors to look into the case.
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Marsek's estranged husband, Dan, had reported his wife and daughters missing. His wife's cell phone had not been active for days, the Lake County Sheriff's Department confirmed Sunday.
"Law enforcement could not have brought this investigation to this point, the recovery of Mrs. Marsek and her children, without the unflagging support of other law enforcement agencies, the family, friends, and community," the sheriff's department news release said. "This is a perfect example of what we as a society can achieve, when we work together."
Marsek, 33, and the children were reported missing last week and were last seen visiting Marsek's parents in Wauconda on Oct. 6. In recent days, volunteers fanned out with flyers, fearing the worst. Authorities searched local ponds and lakes, as a precaution.
Additionally, more than 9,000 faxes and flyer with photos of the woman and girls were distributed by the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.
The Illinois State Police on Sunday canceled the "endangered missing person advisory" it issued last week.
Family and friends even held a prayer vigil at the Marsek home on Friday, where Marsek's estranged husband, Dan Marsek, made a tearful plea to his wife.
"I love you guys. Come home, please. Call someone. Let us know you're okay. I love you guys," he said through tears.
A Facebook posting dedicated to finding Aneta and the children indicated she had recently filed for divorce from her husband of two years, and had lost her job.
CBS 2 has learned Aneta was planning to move in with her parents.
Lake County Sheriff's Deputies planned to release more details on the case later Monday morning.
