Missing sisters found safe in Kansas told police they were "going on trip to mountains"

WALWORTH COUNTY -- Two sisters missing from Walworth County were reunited with their family Wednesday afternoon, January 11th, in the Kansas City area. Genoa City police said their mother took off with her six- and eight-year-old daughters on Tuesday, January 10th -- despite a court order prohibiting her from doing so.

Twenty-two hours after they were last seen, police said eight-year-old Katie Brick and six-year-old Jenna Brick were located Wednesday -- hungry, but otherwise unharmed in a hotel room in a Kansas City suburb.

Katie and Jenna Brick

"The girls articulated to the officer that they were going on a trip to the mountains," said Genoa City Police Chief Joseph Balog.

Chief Balog credited the good news to good police work.

"Really it was just waiting for law enforcement to stumble across them," said Balog.

Around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, Balog said the sisters' paternal grandparents, who currently have custody of Katie and Jenna, reported the girls and their mother, Tiffany Brick, missing from their home.

Tiffany Brick

After failed attempts to reach Tiffany and her boyfriend, 51-year-old Scott Hogel, police put out a missing persons alert to the public and other law enforcement agencies across the country.

Chief Balog

The alert paid off at 3.00 a.m. Wednesday morning, when an officer in Mission, Kansas, located Hogel.

"This appears to be just a random officer out making a welfare check of somebody that appeared to be incoherent or passed out in the cold, possibly with no shoes on -- making contact with him for their concern and their welfare. Once they were able to verbally identify him, he came back with the information that he was connected to these two missing young ladies," said Balog.

Scott Hogel

Hogel then directed the officer to a nearby hotel, where Tiffany and her daughters were staying.

Chief Balog said he's still investigating why Tiffany took off in the first place.

"She claimed that she was outside of an agreement with the children's grandparents -- that they were supposed to have custody of them. But she felt being their biological mother, she felt she should be able to take them when she wanted," said Balog.

The girls are coming back to Wisconsin on Thursday.

Balog said he's been in contact with the Walworth County District Attorney about possible charges but said at this point, the mother and her boyfriend are not facing any.