Child Abduction

Three children are back at home and one man is dead following an early morning abduction. Police say it all started early this morning when 19-year-old Nathan Roland abducted three children from a Joplin home and forced them into a car. The children were at their mother`s home around 7:30 when they were taken by Roland, who is their Uncle. A few hours later, authorities found the kids safe and found that roland had taken his own life. The three children are three years old, one year old, and three months old. The morning-long search for the kids ended with the discovery of the 19-year-old suspect in a rural Cherokee County location,dead by hanging. Joplin Police say they received a 911 phone call from the children`s mother at 1620 Iowa street in Joplin around 7:30. Reports indicate that the children`s uncle was trying to kick a door in at their mother`s home. As officers arrived at the scene, Roland started to drive away in a White Chevy Lumina car. Authorities say police fired shots at the car, but roland escaped with the children inside. Cherokee County Sheriff`s deputies say they found the car around 11:30 this morning north of Galena. "We then saturated the area, I drove up on the vehicle at the end of this dirt road. Waited for another deputy to back me up, didn`t know if the suspect was still in the vehicle. I saw the children in the vehicle, we secured the vehicle the suspect wasn`t there, the children were,"said Det. Sean Putnam, Cherokee Co. Sheriff`s Dept. Officers then looked around the area and located roland`s body hanging from a tree at the rural location in Cherokee County. Air units from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Joplin hospitals assisted in the search, along with K-9 units and ATV`s. Reported By:Ryan Loyd