Amber Alert issued for 4 children in danger has been canceled, children found safe, police say


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SOUTH SALT LAKE — An Amber Alert has been canceled and all four children have been located, unharmed. Two suspects are in custody, according to police.

Police had issued the Amber Alert Wednesday afternoon, after four children were believed to be in danger when they were taken by their mother and grandmother.

Two-month-old Aaron Murillo and Oaklee Murillo, 2, were taken from a courtroom after the Division of Child and Family Services was given custody of the children Wednesday, South Salt Lake police said.

"DCFS has a court order and warrant to remove children. Mother and grandmother fled with children and refused to turn over children to DCFS. Mother of children sent text to DCFS caseworker that children were killed or going to be killed," police said.

Librado Beccera-Murillo, 9, and Rosa Estrella Beccera-Murillo, 11, were removed from school by the mother and grandmother "and are considered endangered due to the prior threats made and circumstances," according to the police post on Facebook.

The Amber Alert stated that suspects Yaneli Murillo, 22, and Maria Murillo, 38, were driving a tan 2004 Ford Explorer, with license plate 4R4KV and/or a gray 1999 Dodge Durango, with license plate P005223105.

Yaneli Murillo was described as 5-foot-4, and police said she weighs 110 pounds, has black hair and black eyes, and was last seen wearing a black jacket and purple or pink pants. Maria Murillo is also 5-foot-4 and has brown hair.

It was not immediately clear whether Murillo is the mother of all four children.

Authorities asked for the public's help locating the children. Anyone with information is asked to call 801-840-4000.

Yaneli Murillo was charged in August in 3rd District Court with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault, both third-degree felonies; threatening to use a weapon during a fight, a class A misdemeanor; and three counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a class B misdemeanor.

In that case, Yuneli Murillo's mother claimed she threatened her with a gun, according to charging documents.

A witness told police that Yaneli Murillo was told "Maria snitched," so Yaneli planned to "scare Maria" by walking into an apartment with a gun in her hand, shutting the door and telling everyone inside that they weren't leaving, the charges state. Police later recovered the gun, which turned out to be a pellet gun.

A preliminary hearing, in that case, is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. on Thursday.

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Ashley Imlay is an evening news manager for KSL.com. A lifelong Utahn, Ashley has also worked as a reporter for the Deseret News and is a graduate of Dixie State University.
Pat Reavy is a longtime police and courts reporter. He joined the KSL.com team in 2021, after many years of reporting at the Deseret News and KSL NewsRadio before that.

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