A couple has been arrested for allegedly kidnapping two Amish girls from their family farm in upstate New York's St. Lawrence County, police said late Friday.
Stephen M. Howells II, 39, and his 25-year-old girlfriend Nicole F. Vaisey were ordered held without bond after police arrested them from their home in Hermon town, over 20 miles from where 7-year-old Delila Miller and 12-year-old Fannie Miller were abducted on Wednesday, St. Lawrence County prosecutors said according to NBC News.
The Miller sisters were found safe Thursday evening in Richville, about 15 miles from their farm in Oswegatchie. The girls were able to provide information that led to a speedy arrest, the St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Office said.
"The arrest of the two persons have no doubt saved young children from future abuse at the hands of these two," the sheriff's office said.
An Amber Alert was issued after the girls vanished while tending to a customer in a car that pulled up to their farm's vegetable stand. Their family was back inside a barn milking.
The car, a white 4-door sedan, drove off from the stand and the girls were gone, a witness told police, CNN reported.
The kidnappers reportedly left the girls alone on the side of a road in Richville.
"The children walked up to a home, knocked on the door of a stranger," St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain told CNN affiliate WWNY "The stranger brought them home to their house and police were waiting."
Investigators conducted a search of the couple's home as they try to piece together what happened in the 24 hours the girls were missing. A white car and a red car were towed from the home, according to CNN.
Howells and Vaisey face at least 25 years in prison if convicted for kidnapping, the New York Daily News reported.
More information into the kidnapping is expected to be released at a Saturday night press conference.
