DETROIT – A Detroit grandmother is pleading for the safe return of her two grandchildren, who have been missing for five years since their mother was killed, officials said.
Detroit police descended on the neighborhood near Penrod Street in June 2014 and found a mother dead and her children missing.
"It's still an open case, and there's possibly witnesses that won't come up," grandmother Travea Fox said.
Fox's daughter, Alicia, was the mother found dead. Her body was in a vacant house in Detroit, police said.
Fox's grandchildren -- 6-year-old Kaylah Hunter and 8-month-old Kristian Justice -- were missing.
"We have a big family, a really big family, and to have a big family -- to have a chunk of your family missing -- that means a lot," Fox said.
What happened to the children? Fox thinks a man named Erin Justice knows. He was convicted in her daughter's murder.
"Erin Justice was sentenced to 80 years plus and he hardly said a word," Fox said. "He's just hush mouth. He won't say anything."
Fox said she remembers the last time she saw Kaylah and Kristian -- during a Memorial Day celebration.
"They had a holiday party," Fox said. "It was the last time they've seen them."
Days later, Alicia Fox was found dead.
A man named Timothy Jones was charged as an accessory to the murder. He said the children were alive after Alicia Fox was killed.
"When you left the house on Armore that day, what was the condition of Kaylah and Kristian?" Local 4 Defender Karen Drew asked.
"They were alive," Jones said.
"Give my daughter peace," Fox said. "Just help us. I'm begging someone else -- please help us."
Fox said she's been begging for answers since her daughter was murdered.
"Do you feel like because so many years passed, maybe someone might change their mind?" Karen asked. "What do you feel about that?"
"I feel like, you know, having the reward out there and keeping it out there in the public for everybody to see -- I believe that somebody will eventually say something, at least that's what I have hoped," Fox said.
Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,500 reward for information that leads to the discovery of the missing children. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-SPEAK-UP. Callers can remain anonymous.