Teen sisters Samantha and Gianna Rucki, who went missing in the midst of their parents' heated 2013 custody battle, were found "safe and in seemingly good health" at a Minnesota horse ranch on Wednesday afternoon, according to police.
The Star Tribune reported that Samantha, 17, and Gianna, 16, are expected to be transferred to their father, David Rucki, who was granted full custody of the girls by a Dakota County judge in November 2013, months after they went missing in April.
Police obtained an arrest warrant for Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, the girls' mother, last year, and she was arrested last month in Florida. She was charged with three counts of felony deprivation of parental rights for her alleged involvement in her daughters' disappearance. She currently resides in a Minnesota prison.
But she has repeatedly denied having anything to do her daughters' disappearance.
The girls appear to have been living with Gina and Doug Dahlen at their non-profit White Horse Ranch. The ranch website describes its mission as helping abused children heal by working with horses.
A search of St. Cloud woman Dede Evavold's home provided evidence that led investigators to the ranch.
Evavold is an apparent supporter of the "Protective Parent" movement, which argues that family courts are broken and sometimes award custody to abusive parents.
Gianna and Samantha were 13 and 14, respectively, when the ran from their home on April 19, 2013, during their parents' custody battle.
The girls accused their father of abusing them, but a psychologist determined their mother had falsely convinced them of this. Rucki has repeatedly denied ever abusing his daughters.
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