INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Two noncustodial parents of three children were convicted on kidnapping and other charges, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced today.

Willie Terrell, 50, and Jessika Terrell, 31, were charged with three counts of interference of custody, three counts of kidnapping and three counts of criminal confinement. All charges are felonies. They were convicted on all counts.

According to court documents, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were dispatched to the Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que, 3645 Vincennes Road, in Indianapolis around 1 p.m. on July 4 for an abduction. That restaurant is located on the city’s northwest side.

A man met with officers and said that he had custody of his three grandchildren — identified as Frankie, 4; Queen, 3; and King, 1 — and had agreed to bring the children to meet their parents for a meal at the restaurant with the approval of the Indiana Department of Child Services.

When the man returned from the bathroom after Willie and Terrell arrived, the pair had left in a white minivan with their three children.

IMPD detectives discovered the following day in their investigation that the children had been removed from their parents in October due to medical neglect, including failure to give their daily medications and fed them poorly.

Detectives requested “exigent pings” of the parents’ cellphones using the phone numbers provided by Child Services. Initially, Jessika’s phone pinged in Louisville, Kentucky, but later, Willie’s cellphone pinged indicating they were in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Detectives were later informed that the couple’s phone numbers were no longer active.

Detectives obtained an accurate phone number and successfully pinged it at in Columbus, Texas. A Child Services case manager informed detectives that she had just spoken with Willie and his therapist in a three-way call.

Willie reportedly told his therapist during the call “the children were okay, they were on their way to Mexico, stating he was 288 miles from Mexico, and he wanted the FBI to investigate why his children kept being taken from him,” court documents say.

Detectives obtained medical records of the three children, which showed they have diagnosed with illnesses that need continued treatment.

With the help of Texas officials, a ping of Willie’s phone revealed that he was in Pearsall, Texas, 101 miles from the United States-Mexico border.

The Frio County Texas Sheriff’s Office was notified by the FBI about the silver alert and conducted a traffic stop on a white van linked to the alert. The driver fled from law enforcement and barricaded themselves in a hotel room at Rio Frio Motel.

According to an official statement, Texas Department of Public Safety officers successfully negotiated with Willie and Jesska, who surrendered peacefully. Three children found inside the hotel room received a medical evaluation.

Mears said in a statement, “Three children were kidnapped and taken from their grandfather, the children were traumatized and unnecessarily put at risk by the defendants ill-conceived plan to move to Mexico. Today, we are grateful for the jury’s verdict and glad the children are safe.”

The children were removed from Willie and Jessika’s care due to medical neglect in October 2023.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 6.