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The Carteret County Sheriff’s Office has charged two Belhaven parents with abducting their four children from a relative who had custody of the children in Tyrrell County.

According to a press release from the CCSO, James Marvin Spencer Jr., 36, and Brittany Taylor Spencer, 31, both of Belhaven, charged with four counts of child abduction. Deputies say the couple picked up the children, ages 2, 4, 6 and 7, for a visit in late June and did not return them as scheduled.

On Tuesday, CCSO deputies found the couple and the children after responding to reports of a domestic disturbance at Cedar Creek Campground and Marina, located in Sea Level. Deputies learned that the couple had been entered into the National Crime Information Center database and the North Carolina Warrant Repository.

According to CCSO Sgt. Ronnie Hall, the couple had been hiding out in various places throughout eastern North Carolina since and had been staying at the campground for two days prior to their arrest.

The children were turned over to the Carteret County Department of Social Services, which in turn helped return the children to Tyrrell County.

In addition to the abduction charges, James Spencer was also charged with failing to appear in court for a charge of assault with a deadly weapon in Hyde County.

The parents are being held in the Carteret County Detention Center. James Spencer Jr. has been assigned a bond of $450,000, while Brittany Spencer’s bond is set at $40,000.