Bellevue dad facing homicide charges after his two children found dead

PAPILLION, Neb. (WOWT) - Bellevue Police confirmed Monday that they are investigating the deaths of two children Sunday afternoon as homicides.

Adam Price was arrested Sunday evening in Pacifica, Calif. His two children — Theodore, 3, and Emily, 5 — were found dead Sunday afternoon in a Bellevue home. Officials from the Sarpy County Attorney’s office said Price will face two counts of felony child abuse resulting in death.

Authorities said autopsies were being performed on the children Monday morning.

Price was scheduled to appear in a California court Monday on a fugitive warrant, but that appearance was delayed a day, according to the county attorney’s office. His extradition hearing is also expected to happen Tuesday.

Bellevue detectives are planning to travel to California to speak with Price.

Price, 35, is being held at Maguire Correctional Facility south of San Francisco and was originally due in court at 3:30 p.m. Monday.

A license-plate reader caught sight of Price’s car Saturday morning as he traveled through Nevada. That’s about 20 hours from Bellevue, meaning Price had to have been on the road Friday afternoon at the latest, and maybe earlier — meaning it’s likely the children had already died before officers ever stopped by the house Saturday night.

Price and Mary Nielsen, mother of the children, had been in the middle of a custody dispute after filing for divorce in December. Joint custody had been awarded by a judge, with Price having custody of the children this week. When Nielsen, who lives in Illinois, wasn’t able to talk with her children in the past couple days, she called police for a welfare check.

Bellevue Police went to the home, but Fourth Amendment protects property owners from illegal searches and seizures. So when officers went to the home Saturday night and again Sunday morning, there wasn’t enough cause to break into a home — there just wasn’t anything suspicious observed, police said Monday.

Officers knocked on the door, looked through any windows, used their senses — they didn’t smell or hear anything. The garbage had been moved out, the lawn mowed — nothing suspicious that officers could tell at the time. For all police knew, the father and two children had gone camping or to a waterpark.

“Do we wish we could have done more? Absolutely, we wish we had more information to have stopped that,” BPD Capt. Andy Jashinske said. “Unfortunately, that’s not the case here.”

Nielsen told 6 News on Monday that she has spent every dime she has fighting in court for her two children. The custody trial was likely to take place this fall.

In Bellevue, neighbors have put up balloons and personal messages on light poles and mailboxes. A GoFundMe page also has been set up for the family to help with expenses.

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