TAMPA, Fla. - Authorities are searching for two young boys they believe were kidnapped by their father from their maternal grandparents' Florida home after their grandmother was tied up.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday night asked for the public's help in locating the boys, 4-year-old Cole Hakken and 2-year-old Chase Hakken.
Authorities allege that their father, 35-year-old Joshua Michael Hakken, entered his mother-in-law's house north of Tampa, tied her up and fled with the children. They said the children could be in a black 2006 GMC pickup owned by their father.
The news release identified Hakken and the children's mother, 34-year-old Sharyn Patricia Hakken, as suspects in the abduction. The news release said "both suspects are anti-government and have attempted a previous abduction at gun point in Louisiana."
The Tampa Bay Times reports that Joshua Hakken lost custody of his sons last year after a drug possession arrest in Louisiana, and that authorities said he later tried to take them from a foster home at gunpoint. The newspaper said the children had been living with their grandparents since last year, and that the Hakkens were informed Tuesday by a Louisiana court that they'd been stripped of their parental rights.