Amber Alert Update: 3 Georgia Children Found Dead

A Columbus man and his three young children were found dead in some Muscogee County woods Wednesday, two weeks after the man took the youngsters and left letters threatening to kill them and himself, the FBI said.

Investigators initially thought Eddie Harrington had left Georgia for Indiana with his 23-month-old twin daughters Agena and Aliyah Battle and his 3-year-old son Cedric soon after they were reported missing.

FBI spokesman Steve Emmett said the four bodies were found just after noon in a wooded area of Muscogee County, which includes the city of Columbus.

Harrington was the children's biological father, Emmett said. He did not know why the man took them. Their mother, Agena Battle, discovered them gone when she got home early March 5.

Battle called police because Harrington had left a note on the bedroom dresser saying he was depressed and didn't want to live and that he planned to kill himself and the youngsters, the FBI said. Harrington's father in Indianapolis got a similar letter.

Columbus police issued a warrant for Harrington's arrest for child endangerment. A Levi's Call was issued, and roadside alerts asked motorists to watch for Harrington's dark green 2002 Chevrolet Impala.

"Shortly after, the FBI took out a federal unlawful flight warrant as a tool to secure the safe return of those children," Emmett said.

Then an Amber Alert was issued â€" the national version of Georgia's Levi's Call. Consequently, there were several reports that the Impala had been spotted in Tennessee, Indiana and New York.

It was not clear if Harrington ever left the state with the children.

The search for the family received national media coverage in the days that followed, and Columbus police had planned another news conference for today, during which they hoped to attract more public notice to their search.

But someone walking in the woods Wednesday found the bodies.

Information about the cause of their deaths and how long they had been dead was not available.