The father of two children who were missing with their grandfather for two days says he is looking forward to bringing them home.
William Gomez, 57, and his grandchildren, 7-year-old Marcus and 8-year-old Dominique, disappeared Sunday afternoon and were found in Wisconsin on Tuesday.
"For them, they didn't have a clue," said Jose Gomez, the children's father. "For them, it was a trip out with their grandpa, so they weren't too fazed by it."
He talked with his children by phone Tuesday for the first time since their disappearance.
"My daughter admitted she is a little bit nervous, but they are in good spirits," he said. "My son wanted to go watch 'Spongebob.'"
William Gomez had told family members on Sunday afternoon that he would be taking the children to either Rhoton Park in Carrollton or Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville. The family reported them missing that night after they did not return.
A sheriff's officer in Washington County, Wis., just northwest of Milwaukee, discovered the driver was Gomez after he flagged down the officer and asked him for help. The officer ran the license plates for the car to find the family had been listed as "endangered."
All three were found in good health.
Bank and credit card information tracked Gomez through Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois on Monday and Tuesday.
"[I'm] so relieved, happy, that they found them," said Gomez's wife, Maria.
Her husband gets disoriented, a lingering issue from a surgery he had more than a decade ago, she said. But this is the first time he disappeared with children, she said.
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"[It's] so wonderful to know they are OK," Maria Gomez said. "They are not going to spend another night on the road driving."
A group called Care Services is taking care of William Gomez and the children in Washington County until family members can pick them up on Wednesday.
"We are looking to get our family together, pick up the pieces and get our life started again," Jose Gomez said.
