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Marion County deputies search for missing family

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MARION COUNTY, Fla. — UPDATE: The children were turned into authorities by their mother Dec. 20.

Marion County deputies are searching for four children who deputies believe are with their parents.

Deputies said the parents, Joyce Nieves and James Dieffenbacher, have a history of drug use, domestic violence and living in poor conditions.  %

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Aryanna Nidia Robles-Nieves, 15, Totty Dieffenbacher-Nieves, 3, Aubriella Dieffenbacher-Nieves, 5, and Malachi Dieffenbacher-Nieves, 2, were last seen Nov. 17 by Department of Children and Families investigators and by school officials.

“Our main focus is the safety and welfare of these children,” said Lauren Lettelier, with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

The family lived in a home N.W. 58 Court in Micanopy.

Deputies said the parents left with the children after they learned DCF was investigating an abuse complaint. DCF has obtained a pick-up order signed by a judge.

Investigators with DCF obtained a court order to search the home and said the children were living in deplorable conditions.

“It’s very dirty inside. Not conditions for children to be living in,” Lettelier said.

DCF removed the children earlier this year, but officials said the parents met the criteria to get the kids back.

“She loved her kids and that’s all she always talked about,” a neighbor told Channel 9’s Myrt Price.

Detectives announced Friday that they believe Joyce Nieves is driving a tan Ford Taurus bearing Florida tag #2377BM.

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“The mother has done pretty much everything she possibly can to keep her children away (from law enforcement),” Lettelier said.

Detectives originally said the children and their parents may possibly be traveling in a 1999 Dodge four-door pickup truck bearing Florida tag GMAK91, and are still on the lookout for that vehicle as well.

Anyone who has seen the four children and their parents is asked to call 911.

UPDATE (12/20/16): Joyce Nieves surrendered her four missing endangered children (Aryanna Nidia Robles-Nieves, Aubriella...

Posted by Marion County Sheriff's Office on Thursday, December 15, 2016
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