Preliminary hearing date set in abduction case

(Tulsa-AP) -- Two people accused of stealing a car and abducting two children strapped inside the vehicle are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on October 13th.

Joe Phelps of Afton and Bonnie Grubbs of Tulsa appeared in state district court today.

The two are charged with two counts of kidnapping, two counts of child endangerment and one count of larceny of an automobile.

Grubbs and Phelps are accused of stealing a car from a Tulsa gasoline station with two children in the back seat.

Nineteen-month-old Monique Collette and six-and-a-half-month-old Demetri Collette were strapped to the back seat of their parents'

vehicle. Their mother briefly walked away from the car only to return and find it missing.

The children were found unharmed in the abandoned vehicle in Ottawa County the next day.

Truckers on C-Bs, ham radio operators and the news media helped alert the public of the missing children as part of the Amber Alert plan.