MOM REGAINS ABDUCTED CHILDREN.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

LANCASTER - A Utah woman has been reunited with her two daughters after her ex-husband, sought by the FBI in the abduction of the girls more than six months ago, was captured at a Lancaster motel, officials said.

Michael Shaughnessy, 47, was spotted Sunday with his daughters, 8 and 12, near the pool at the Motel 6 by deputies who had been provided with photos of the trio and alerted by the FBI that the three might be in the Antelope Valley.

``I'm relieved it's finally over,'' said Sgt. Dan Gallagher of the West Jordan, Utah, Police Department, the lead detective on the case. ``Unfortunately, it may not be entirely over for the family. Their work has just started.''

He said the two girls were abducted from their mother in West Jordan on Nov. 29 and had been moving from place to place with their father, who lost custody of the girls after his divorce from their mother in England early last year, officials said.

Shaughnessy, who had previously never been in trouble with the law, took his daughters and 5-year-old son during a permitted visit with them, officials said.

He left his son with his mother before fleeing with the girls, officials said. Shaughnessy's mother contacted the girls' mother and told her that she could get her son, but that the girls were gone and would not be back.

Because the divorce and custody arrangement had been signed in England, it was not recognized in the United States, Gallagher said. Gallagher helped arrange for U.S. custody papers and a warrant for Shaughnessy's arrest.

``Initially we believed he would flee back to England,'' said Gallagher. ``We notified Scotland Yard and everyone else we could think of.''

Shaughnessy and the girls were found after the trio and his mother settled in a mobile home in Palm Springs.

They are believed to have lived there until just a week ago when a neighbor reported that the man, his mother and the two girls were living without air conditioning and that the girls were allowed to leave the trailer to play only at night.

A Palm Springs police officer talked with Shaughnessy, Gallagher said, and decided later to run the name through a national database. He found that there was an outstanding warrant for Shaughnessy.

When the officer returned, Shaughnessy and the girls were gone. Shaughnessy's mother was questioned but later released.

The FBI notified sheriff's officials at the Palmdale and Lancaster stations that Shaughnessy might be headed toward the Antelope Valley. Fliers with color pictures of the girls and their father were distributed to patrol deputies at both stations.

Two deputies on routine patrol spotted Shaughnessy and the girls near the motel pool. They said he attempted to flee but was quickly apprehended.

Learning her daughters might be in the Antelope Valley, the girls' mother landed at Los Angeles International AirportL and was already on the road north when she was contacted on her cellular phone by Gallagher, who told her the girls had been found.

The girls were reunited with their mother late Sunday night and began the trip home soon after, officials said. Officials believe the girls had been well cared for.

Shaughnessy remained in custody at Lancaster on suspicion of parental kidnapping, but Utah authorities have refused to extradite him. Gallagher expected him to be released without charges being filed, but said he could face charges in Utah if he voluntarily returns there.