OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A couple who disappeared with their children, leading to a search of the South Dakota wilderness, turned themselves in to authorities near their Nebraska home on Monday, a sheriff said.

Matthew and Rowena Schade turned themselves in to the Knox County sheriff's officials, Sheriff Jim Janecek said in a news release. Matthew Schade was arrested on a warrant for a probation violation in neighboring Antelope County, and his wife was being held by order of the Nebraska Department of Probation, he said.

State health officials planned to speak to the children, ages 8 and 11, before determining where to place them, the release said.

Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Jeanne Atkinson said she could not discuss the children's conditions, citing privacy laws.

Calls seeking comment from Janecek and prosecutors from Knox and Antelope counties were not immediately returned Monday.

Rowena Schade's mother, Sandra Epstein, hung up on a reporter who called her home seeking comment. Later, a woman who answered Epstein's phone and identified herself only as Epstein's mother said the children were fine.

"I can practically guarantee that," the woman said.

The family from Creighton, 128 miles northwest of Omaha, disappeared March 20 after being interviewed about allegations of abuse.

Their car was found on a remote road in South Dakota's Black Hills on March 31, leading to a search of the area, where authorities believe the family had spent several days. Matthew Schade called his father and said the family was fine and wanted to be left alone.

That search ended after authorities in Nebraska found a stolen truck in Antelope County they believe the family used to return to the state. No one has been charged with the theft.

Epstein told authorities she last spoke to her daughter on Friday, when she said her daughter told her she and Matthew Schade fled Nebraska fearing social services workers would take the kids away from them, according to a Knox County sheriff's department news release.

Epstein said her daughter told her they returned to Nebraska to retrieve their red Jeep. Her daughter said they had "another plan," and that if things didn't work out, they would go "where no one would ever find them."

Investigators said the Schades spent their honeymoon in the Black Hills and had talked about relocating there. They said it appeared the family left their house in a hurry with more than $1,000 worth of recently purchased "camping survival-type gear."

Matthew Schade attended a survival camp in the search area through his church and had expressed a desire to live in solitude in the mountains, Maj. Brian Mueller of the Pennington County20(S.D.) Sheriff's Office said last week.

Matthew and Rowena Schade were convicted of burglarizing Mitch's Food Center in Plainview, Neb., in 2004, where Matthew previously had worked, owner Mitch Wragge told the Omaha World-Herald.

Wragge said Matthew did not get away with any money during the burglary. Wragge told the newspaper that Rowena drove the getaway car.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hIKhzTan4kwL0euupJYe4sMJjf9AD97D7M802