Mother, daughters missing for three years found in Bethesda

Mother, daughters missing for three years found in Bethesda

A mother and her two daughters, missing for three years from Missouri, were found in Bethesda, Maryland, sleeping on a hotel patio. FOX 5's Shomari Stone reports.

BETHESDA, Md. - A mom and her two daughters, who had been reported missing in Missouri three years ago, were found in Bethesda Thursday. 

What we know:

Montgomery County Department of Police say they were alerted to the Residence Inn by Marriott in the 7300 block of Wisconsin Avenue on Wednesday morning for a welfare call. 

They arrived to find two girls and on woman sleeping on the hotel's patio. The children were wearing dirty clothes and did not respond to the officers. 

Child Protective Services were requested, and the three were taken to an area hospital for medical evaluation. 

Officers learned that the woman was the mother of the two girls, ages 10 and 6. They were able to contact the children's father, who said his 36-year-old wife and their two daughters had been reported missing in Missouri three years ago. 

The children's father has arrived in Montgomery County and has been reunited with his daughters. 

What we don't know:

It's unclear why the trio went missing and where they have been for the last three years. 

Montgomery County Police Department says the missing case had not been entered into the National Crime Information Center "because the family was last seen in Florida." It's unclear whether the entire family, or just the mother and two daughters, had last been seen in Florida – or why the appearance in Florida would keep them from being entered into the NCIC, which is specifically designed for interstate use. 

The investigation is active and ongoing.