Woman who reported kidnapped Utah children humbled to have found them

Sandi Zook lives in a rural area in the middle of Amish country in Pennsylvania, so it's not unusual to see children walking with their parents along the side of the road.

But on Tuesday, she came across a man and two small children who immediately raised red flags. They were not Amish. But what stood out the most was how oddly they were behaving.

"It just didn't feel right," she told the Deseret News on the phone from Pennsylvania.

The actions of the man, in particular, were strange enough that Zook called 911 to report them.

Zook continued to work, not thinking much would come of her call. When she arrived home that night and logged on to the Internet to catch up on the news, she learned the children she had reported that morning were from Utah and had been missing for eight months.

"I just started screaming, 'My kids, my kids,' " she said. "Then I just cried … realizing anything could have happened, and I could have said, 'Oh well, that was strange,' and kept driving. But I was compelled to call."

Because of Zook's call, and one other that came shortly after, East Lampeter Township Police responded to U.S. 30 near Lancaster, Pa., where they found Wayne "Fred" Brown III, who had been on the run since July with his two children, 4-year-old Daniel, who is autistic, and 3-year-old Noel, who was 2 when she disappeared.

The children were supposed to be returned to their mother, Grace Bjarnson, in Salt Lake City following a short visit July 18. But Brown never brought them back. Investigators believe that, for eight months, he has been wandering around Utah and parts of the U.S., even twice trying to gain access into Canada with the children while he was in New York. But each time he was denied entry.

Bjarnson left Salt Lake City Friday morning to fly back to Pennsylvania to get her children. She was scheduled to fly into Philadelphia by the afternoon, when she would be reunited with her children at the airport, and then turn around and catch another flight to return home.

"I'm still overwhelmed," Zook said of her phone call that ultimately led to Friday's reunion. "I have a strong faith in God. I believe I was there at the right time for a reason."

There were several things that stood out to Zook the morning she spotted Brown and the children down the road.