New Details on the Missing Woman and 2 Kids Case

The mentally disabled woman and two children who'd been missing for 38 hours traveled from a fast food restaurant around Long Beach via public transportation and ended up recognized by a Metro train commuter Monday morning - 40 miles away.

They were safe. They were uninjured. And Monday night they were back at their respective homes, the Long Beach Police Department announced at 5:15 p.m.

The trio had apparently slept on various forms of public transportation Saturday and Sunday night, department spokeswoman Nancy Pratt said by e-mail.

Additional details were issued in a press statement about the missing trio and how they were located at a Sylmar train station in North Los Angeles County as the third day of their disappearance unfolded.

Police were first called at 11:30 p.m. Saturday about threesome's failure to return, and spent the night hunting the area for them, as well as alerting other law enforcement agencies to keep a look out, police said Monday.

They were looking for what they described as "an adult female with mild mental retardation with the maturity level of an 8-year-old, and two children," who were in her custody with permission. It remained unclear if the guardians of the children knew of the adult's capacities.

Marie Williams, 25, who had  what kNBC reported as a history of wandering away from group homes, took two children for what was to be a walk down the street for fast food Saturday at 4:45 p.m. They were at an apartment complex near Santa Fe and Spring streets in Long Beach where Williams had been staying for a few weeks with a cousin, KNBC reported, and police said the young missing boy lived at the same complex. The young girl, from the Palmdale area, was visiting someone at the apartment building, and Williams was not viewed as any danger to the children, a relative said Monday.

While many details remain unclear as to what might have taken her 75 minutes to arrive at the restaurant as it was closing at 6 p.m., or what the destination was that took the threesome to Sylmar via train, other circumstances were detailed by the police department.

The station at which they were recognized by a train passenger during morning commute is at 12219 Frank Modugno Drive Los Angeles, CA, and on the Antelope Valley line.

"Long Beach Police were notified, responded to the LAPD's Mission Community Station in Mission Hills, and transported all three (missing) back to Long Beach.  Detectives interviewed the three and learned that during the time they were gone, they had been travelling around the city using public transportation until making their way outside of the city and to Sylmar," Pratt's statement read.

"The Department of Children and Family Services was notified and both children were released to their families.  The adult female was also released to family and the investigation remains ongoing."