The children are seen by a security camera to cycle to find their father on March 1.
On March 4, Hoang Thi Ben, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Cu Ewi Commune (Cu Kuin District, Dak Lak Province), confirmed that local authorities had received information about the incident. Fortunately, the children were discovered safe after travelling nearly 50km in search of their father.
"The three children live with their paternal grandparents in Dak Lak Province, while their father works in the neighbouring province of Dak Nong," Ben shared. "Thankfully, they did not encounter any accidents or dangers on the way and were found and brought home safely."
The children have been brought back home with their grandparents.
Hoang Van Cao, 60, recalled that on the late afternoon of March 1, while working on his family's coffee plantation, he received a call from relatives informing him that his three grandchildren were missing from home. He immediately rushed back in search of them.
Fearing they might have wandered near lakes or reservoirs, which posed a significant danger, he called on neighbours for assistance in the search. "I looked for them around the nearby water bodies, my hands trembling, praying they would be safe," Cao recounted.
Neighbours swiftly shared information about the missing children on Facebook to seek help from the online community.
Later that evening, the grandfather received a phone call informing him that the children had been spotted riding two bicycles along National Highway 27, travelling from Cu Kuin District towards the centre of Buon Ma Thuot City.
"Many people mobilised via social media and reviewed security camera footage to help locate them. By 11 pm the same day, someone who had seen the Facebook post spotted the children passing Tay Nguyen University in Buon Ma Thuot and stopped them for their safety," Cao said.
The children had cycled nearly 50km from Cu Ewi Commune to Buon Ma Thuot, and they were exhausted and hungry, so local residents provided them with food and milk.
"When I brought them home and asked why they had left, they simply said they were looking for their father. The three little ones, dressed in thin clothing with no helmets, rode old bicycles such a long way. It's a miracle they were not involved in an accident or abducted, the grandfather said in happy tears.
To Thi Luc, 58, Cao's wife, explained that their son married in 2013 and had three children living in Dak Nong Province. Due to financial struggles, their daughter-in-law left for Binh Phuoc Province in 2021 to seek a job and has not been heard from since.
Luc and her grandchildren.
"Seeing my son struggling to raise three small children alone, my husband and I took them to Dak Lak to care for them. Despite our hardships, we do our best to provide for them," the grandmother shared.
During the recent Lunar New Year holiday, their father visited home and took the children to Tuy Duc District, Dak Nong, where he worked, for a few days before putting them on a coach back to their grandparents' house while he remained at work.
"I never imagined that the children had memorised the way and that the two older boys would secretly take bicycles to find their father," Luc said.
The bicycles they rode were old — one donated by a benefactor, the other purchased by their grandparents with savings to help them get to school.
Their two old bikes.
Sitting shyly beside their grandparents, the three children hesitated to speak when asked about their journey. Overcome with emotion, the eldest simply said, "I missed my dad so much, so I took my siblings to find him," before lowering his head in silence, on the verge of tears.
Luc sighed, "My poor grandchildren. If their parents had not separated, they would not suffer such a lack of love."
Now back home with their grandparents, the children have understood their mistake and quietly nodded when advised not to make such a risky decision again.
