The search for Dominic and Abby Maryk ended at a home near Guadalajara, Mexico – thousands of kilometres away from where they went missing.
The pair of children, Dominic seven and Abby just five years old, went missing in 2008 -- police say the pair were abducted by their father in 2008.
Since then, their mother Emily Cablek has undertaken a tireless pursuit to find them. Working with missing children's agencies Cablek has met with the media, produced YouTube videos and appealed to the public.
"I'm so glad that the work of the Canadian Centre for Children Protection has paid off because this is long-term, grueling work," said Roz Prober a child advocate who works with Beyond Borders.
"It's hard to think of a life to go on and move forward without my two kids with me," Cablek told CTV in 2009.
Thursday the wheels were set in motion for the pair to be found when a neighbour saw the children on Mexican TV and called authorities.
He reported the find to police but said they wouldn't help. A private investigator in Louisiana and the Find Foundation in Mexico stepped in.
Friday police raided a home -- surrounded in barbed wire and it's external walls dotted by cameras. The children were found locked inside the house.
The children have now been removed from their home and their father – Kevin Maryk – is in custody.
Prober believes the focus now will be getting Abby and Dominic the help they need to overcome the trauma of abduction.
"Once you find children and once you get them out of trauma, they can overcome this and live very productive lives," said Prober. "That's what research is showing – the real resilience of children who have gone through the worst."
Cablek is expected to be reunited with her children soon, if it hasn't happened already. Winnipeg police are remaining tight-lipped about the discovery, saying only that there was a major development in the case.
CTV News has learned that Kevin Maryk and Robert Groen were arrested by Mexican authorities.
Winnipeg police are expected to provide more information on the case Monday.
