A simple message request was all that crossed the mind of Madison Belleau, the mother of four missing South Kitsap children when she first got the notification from Facebook Sept. 7.

It had already been over six months since their disappearance, and Belleau was left with no solid leads, no clue as to where her kids were, and, at times, no hope that she would see any of them again.

She was well aware of the statistics and the increasing likelihood that the father, Joshua Lee Susee of Olalla, was long gone with the four Susee children: 10-year-olds Archer and Faylinn, 6-year-old Ember and 4-year-old Hazel.

“For a few months, there was nothing anybody could do,” she said. “We would ask for updates weekly, biweekly, and we would always get nothing new from all the agencies.”

As impossible as the case seemed, she remained hopeful, presents from missed birthdays waiting for the children that had been taken away since early March when their father failed to return them to the custody of their mother.

Still, it was hard to to be positive about that new message—from a complete stranger no less. She opened the inquiry, which asked if she was the mom of abducted children. She replied that she was.

“I am pretty sure that your children are in Ensenada, Baja California Mexico,” the next message read.

And just like that, the tables turned in favor of Belleau.

“It was totally out of the blue,” she said. Facebook “said I had a message request from somebody, I opened it up, and it said she has all of this information. I sent it directly to detective (Alberto) Aguilar because if this was anything, I wanted to get it directly to him.”

The message was from Debra Macisco of Ensenada, and it was more than informative in terms of pinpointing the location of the family members.

Macisco received intel from a man who said a suspicious couple with kids had been living near him since July. “He said the kids looked malnourished and asked if I could send the police over,” Macisco said.

Further digging led to the discovery of news articles about the kids, helping identify the children, as well Susee, who was described by Macisco as extremely watchful in the few times they left their house. An address was provided to Belleau and from her to authorities.

Macisco said she made it clear to Belleau that as a mother she wanted to see the kids get to their rightful home.

“I have a friend whose daughters were kidnapped and taken out of the county. I watched him suffer, and my heart breaks for you,” she told Belleau in their correspondence.

The information led to a swift response from law enforcement, which secured the kids and arrested Susee the very day of the message exchange. Belleau was then sent to San Diego to see her children, just hours after receiving the message she was always waiting for.

“I was laughing, I was crying, I was shaking. It was an overwhelming joy,” Belleau said.

Now, Belleau is using the gap between legal procedures to catch up on family time, including all the missed-out snuggles. But she said she is also focused on the trauma her kids may have experienced in the months they were gone.

Belleau and Susee’s relationship and separation had been at the center of child custody struggles, as both sides have accused each other of child abuse. The March 2 denial of a protection order request by Susee against Belleau was the last legal proceeding before the kids’ disappearance. Belleau said that was the start of his attempt to cut her out of their kids’ lives.

“They weren’t allowed to call me mommy anymore,” she said. “They were told they had to call his new girlfriend mom because that was their new mother.”

Belleau also echoed the concerns of malnourishment. She also said they show fear as if they were about to be hit. She said her heart breaks over that and ultimately her children may never be the same again.

She said she hopes the legal system comes down hard on Susee. “In the long run, I hope that he is never in a position to do this to me and the kids again,” she said. “If he gets the chance, he’ll do it again.”

She also said that same force of the law should be used against Susee’s girlfriend, along with that woman’s mother. “His mom deliberately misled the police and sent false statements about me,” Belleau said. “She said they had no idea where they were, but the kids told me she was going to visit them in October.”