Missing N.H. girls found safe after mother’s ‘suspicious’ death; father in custody

An Amber Alert for two young girls, issued after their mother was found dead inside their New Hampshire apartment, has been canceled and their father has been taken into custody.

New Hampshire State Police on Friday announced both 13-month-old Vaelyn Duren and 4-year-old Elowyn Duren were found safe in Keene. The city is about three hours away from Berlin, where the girls were last seen on Thursday around 8 p.m., Boston 25 News reported. The sisters were with their father, Dustin Duren, at the time.

An intense search for Vaelyn and Elowyn was launched after authorities found their mother, 31-year-old Caitlyn Naffziger, dead inside her Berlin apartment on Thursday around 10 p.m. New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella has since described her death as “suspicious,” and it remains under investigation.

“As part of the investigation, authorities issued an Amber Alert asking for the public’s assistance,” Formella said in a statement.

The alert said the girls were likely with Duren, who’d been driving a white 2017 Subaru Impreza with New Hampshire plate number V69023. The public was urged against approaching him, with authorities warning that he was likely “armed and dangerous.”

Police said Duren was with his daughters when they were found. He was taken into custody, though it’s unclear what charges, if any, he’ll face.

“The Department of Justice greatly thanks the public for their assistance in this matter and their responsiveness to the alert issued earlier by the New Hampshire State Police,” Formella’s office said in a statement late Friday morning.

No other details, including Naffziger’s cause of death, have been released