Officials: Missing Kansas girls found safe in Oklahoma; suspect detained

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The search for a man accused of abducting his two young daughters from a Leavenworth home where two boys also were found dead extended into multiple states late Saturday afternoon before ending in Oklahoma.

By 5:30 p.m., Amber Alerts were issued in Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas for 7-year-old Nora Jackson and 3-year-old Aven Jackson, who were last seen in the 14900 block of Hillside Road in Leavenworth. Officials said there had been sightings of the vehicle in Joplin and Tulsa.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol detained 40-year-old Donny Jackson, who also might have been involved in the double homicide, according to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

OHP tweeted that a port of entry officer spotted the Honda Accord that was the center of the Amber Alert near the small town of Erick, Oklahoma.

Troopers along with deputies from Beckham county pulled the car over and took Donald Ray Jackson into custody and his two daughters who are now safe.

Nora and Aven Jackson were found safe and arrangements are being made to return them to their family.

A friend of the Jackson family told 41 Action News the mother of the children is currently at the Leavenworth Police Department for her safety and that of another young child.

The reunion between the mother and her daughters is expected to happen at the police station – possibly in hours.

Jackson was pulled over earlier Saturday afternoon near the Kansas-Oklahoma border before authorities knew about the homicide and abduction. The two girls were with their father inside the vehicle, according to KBI.

Nora was wearing a black shirt with white polka dots, black leggings and brown boots. She has blonde-brown shoulder-length hair, a slender build and blue eyes. Aven was wearing a red T-shirt, black sparkling leggings and white and pink velcro shoes. She also has blonde hair, blue eyes and a slender build.

Donny Jackson is 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 190 pounds. He has long brown hair with a slight red color and blue eyes. He also has a full beard. It's unknown what he was last wearing.

The three were believed to be traveling in Oklahoma, Texas or Arkansas. Jackson drives a black 2008 Honda Accord with Kansas license 266MXB.

Around 1:15 p.m., the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home in the 14900 block of Hillside Road and found two boys in their early teens, possibly between the ages of 11 and 14, dead inside the residence, according to Undersheriff Jim Sherley. That’s when authorities realized that Nora and Aven were missing.

It’s unknown exactly when the double homicide or the abduction occurred. Deputies were called to the home after someone made a 911 call upon discovering the homicide scene.

Less than an hour before deputies responded to the double homicide, the Kansas Highway Patrol made an “unrelated car stop” on Donny Jackson’s vehicle on Highway 169 near the Oklahoma border around 12:35 p.m. The two girls were inside the vehicle at that time, according to police.

"It was a basic traffic stop, a basic traffic infraction," Sherley said. "They made contact at the vehicle and that was prior to law enforcement being alert to the incident that had transpired here today.

Sherley said during a news conference Saturday afternoon that the sheriff's office has "had dealings" with Jackson in the past but did not know the volume of calls to his home.