3 kids abandoned in shed near vacant house

These children were taken into protective custody. KGW-TV's Reggie Aqui reports.

By Elizabeth Chuck, msnbc.com

Updated at 5:30 p.m. ET: The mother of three children found abandoned in a shed in Portland, Ore., on Thursday has been located, police said Friday.

"We thank everyone who helped with information," the department said in a statement. "We do not need any additional tips.? There will be no more details released about this case as it is still under investigation."

The oldest of the kids, a boy, is approximately?3 years old. A girl, about 2, and an infant girl, believed to be somewhere between 8 and 15 months, were found with the boy Thursday morning, authorities said.

Around 9:30 a.m., a man called 911 to report hearing children's voices from a shed behind his house in Southeast Portland.

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The shed was on the property of a vacant residence, police said in a statement.

Officers said there were homeless people "on the premises" who told them the children were abandoned there the night before by a woman they believed to be their mother.

The Department of Human Services took them into protective custody and gave them medical evaluations.

A resident on the street where the kids were discovered said she had noticed strangers walking across from her home on Thursday morning, where the empty shed is.

"We have a real homeless problem in our neighborhood, so I keep an eye across the street," Judy Baxter, a homeowner on Southeast Rhine Street, told?oregonlive.com.

She said she saw a man and a woman walk into the backyard of a vacant house on Thursday morning, so she called the property owner to suggest he report them. Soon after, police arrived.

Baxter told oregonlive.com that officials led the kids out of the shed through pouring rain; the toddlers held the hands of state welfare workers, while a police officer carried the infant out.

The kids were wearing coats and had backpacks, she said. Authorities who responded to the scene gave them stuffed animals, she told oregonlive.com.

Jennifer Estus, who lives next to the vacant property, told oregonlive.com that homeless people often sleep in the driveway behind the home.

Police said the two older children weigh 28 pounds, and the infant is 15 pounds. All three have olive skin, dark hair and brown eyes.

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