COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa—Local mother began her weekend as she typically does; she started by wiping down counters.

Neidy Hess, 31, said she started the day hoping that she would accomplish completely cleaning the main floor of her house. “Everyone appeared to be in a great mood so I decided to break out the cleaning supplies. I didn’t expect what would happen next.”

She went on to describe a harrowing scene where she called out her children’s names and was met with deafening silence.

“I thought they were in the same room, so I asked if they would join me. But when I called out again and there was no answer, I knew something was wrong.” Sources say she then proceeded to call out a few more times while walking in circles but was met with silence each time.

A crime scene specialist arrived at the scene to look around. He reported hearing “muffled giggles” and “yelps” whenever he approached furniture or blankets that appeared to be moving, but not a child in sight. However, suspicious photographic evidence was found on the scene by a bystander. It showed the missing victims gifting a card that stated “Happy Father’s Day” to the specialist. The specialist has now been held back for further questioning and investigation.

Even though distraught, the mother of the children remained optimistic. “Well, I guess I’ll get as much as I can cleaned up, but it probably won’t be much,” Hess stated. “Our dust bunnies will have to remain for one more day.”

This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Breaking News".