THE mother of the three children who were found wandering on the West Coast Berbice road Wednesday and taken by residents to the Fort Wellington Police Station, turned up for them later in the night.

The kids are between six and three years old and the mother, a vendor of Number Five Village, West Coast Berbice, reportedly told police she had left the three in the care of a female relative living at Hopetown while she went about her business.

She reportedly denied abandoning them and said she was shocked when she received a message early Wednesday night that they had been found wandering on the Hopetown public road.

It is understood that the female relative who had agreed to keep the children, had put them with their belongings out of her home shortly after the mother left.

Residents observed the three in a dirty and unkempt condition standing by themselves at a street corner in Hopetown with a large travelling bag at around 17:00 hrs (5:00 p.m.) Wednesday.

Villagers said the three were crying and appeared to be hungry. Some public-spirited citizens in the crowd of curious onlookers gave them food and drinks and then handed them over to the police at Fort Wellington where they were accommodated pending investigations.

A reliable source said the mother showed up at the police station at around 20:00 hrs (8:00 p.m.) and took the children with her. (CLIFFORD STANLEY)