Missing Maine brothers found safe in North Carolina; father arrested

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – Police have arrested the father of two missing boys from Maine after they were found safe in North Carolina, the Presque Isle Police Department announced Tuesday.

Officers found Joel Strother and the two boys, 12-year-old Joel Strother II and 10-year-old Carter Strother III, after receiving “many tips from all over the East Coast.”

“Because of you all sharing this information and getting the word out, we had a very happy outcome!” Presque Isle police said in a statement, thanking Facebook users who shared their posts. “The information came from a single tip of someone who saw our shared post and decided to call!”

Presque Isle authorities said they first started looking for Strother after he broke a custody agreement and took the children out of state. The children hadn’t been seen for weeks before they were located in North Carolina, according to WMTW.

The boys’ mother, who lives in Presque Isle, told police she hadn’t heard from Strother or the children during that time.

Officials declined to publicly release further information about what led to the arrest or what charges Strother faces.