MONTICELLO, NY — On March 17, a warrant was issued for Alfred Franklin Jr., 30, and Tina Esquilin, 27, by Sullivan County Family Court. The pair had missed a scheduled court appearance concerning four children that were in their custody. Esquilin is the mother of all four children; Franklin is the father of one child.

A court order was then issued by Sullivan County Family Court removing custody of the children from the suspects due to a history of child neglect, violent behavior and substance abuse.

On March 18, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office issued an AMBER Alert regarding the four children after it was discovered that they were taken from their home in Monticello. Information was developed that the two suspects may have been in route to North Carolina or Florida with the children.

The next day, deputies began receiving numerous tips from the AMBER Alert system, and located the four children at a residence in the Town of Cochecton, which belonged to their great grandmother. Their ages are six months, two years, four years and five years old.

At around the same time, sheriff’s deputies and the Monticello Police located the two suspects in Monticello, where they were taken into custody without incident. Sheriff Mike Schiff said, “The system worked incredibly well. We had quality, real-time information that helped us quickly close this case.”