WAYNESBORO, Pa. — Police in a Pennsylvania town are urging residents of the D.C. area to be on the lookout for two sisters who went missing exactly two years ago.
The chief of the Waynesboro, PA Police Department believes Hannah Lee and sister Skye Rex might be hidden "in plain sight" by their 45-year-old mother Lashada Lee, who’s wanted on felony warrants for violations of custodial rights, according to court records.
The sisters are seven and nine years old.
US Marshals have been assisting in the case, according to Waynesboro police.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says the girls may be in danger, especially if they are being hidden, kept away from school, or on the run.
Police say they have no specific information that the children's mother is a threat to them.
Their father is John Rex who lives near Hagerstown, Maryland. He says his ex-wife left with the children on March 17, 2020. It was the same day a Maryland judge granted full custody to him after a bitter divorce and long court battle, court records show.
“I want people to look at the pictures and search for them they’re all over the internet at this point," Rex cried during a heartbreaking video interview he gave to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. “I just beg people to look at their pictures remember their faces and just please be on the lookout.”
Leemie Kahng-Sofer of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says the mother has friends and relatives in the D.C. area.
“There was potentially information that they could be hiding in plain sight in maybe the D.C. metro area," Kahng-Sofer said.
She noted the dissapearances happened just as the COVID epidemic was ramping up two years ago.
“There was online school or kids weren't even attending school. If they were attending school, they were wearing masks and so it's maybe a new day now."
Kahng-Sofer said that the children may be out in public or attending school without masks, which increases the possibility someone might recognize them.
“The children’s safety is a paramount concern. And just because they're with the other parent does not necessarily mean that they're okay," Kahng-Sofer said.
Father John Rex said in a Facebook post Thursday his kids have been “taken for a life on the run instead of being given what every child deserves - A life filled with peace, happiness and security.”
“Daddy loves you and has always loved you. I’ll never stop searching for you until you’re found” he wrote.
WUSA9's attempts to contact mother Lashada Lee were not successful.