HOUSTON -- A Houston woman, charged with kidnapping the five children she has cared for since Hurricane Katrina, has been arrested in Houston.

KHOU.com

The five missing Alphonse children (ages 3-8) appear to be in good health and are being transported to a local Children’s Protective Services facility, in accordance with standard procedure.

An Amber Alert was issued Wednesday afternoon for the three girls and two boys, ages 3 to 8, after Rhonda Tavey, 44, disappeared with the children.

Tavey took the children and their mother into her home after they came to Houston from New Orleans. However, in mid-July, the Houston resident and the children disappeared and she is now accused of kidnapping the kids.  She said she will turn herself in, but so far there has been no confirmation of when or where this will happen.

For the last two days, Rhonda Tavey's family has been going back and forth about what may be the next move. They believe that Tavey, the five children and another family member are somewhere in the Houston area, but others suspect they are still in the Dallas area.

Rhonda Tavey shown with three of the children she's accused of kidnapping.

Tavey has been caring for the five Alphonse children for nearly three years. She met the family while volunteering at the Astrodome where thousands of evacuees were housed in the days following Hurricane Katrina. She said she provided for them with no financial help from their parents or other family members.

For more than a year the children’s biological mother lived with her children in Tavey's home, but Erica Alphonse admitted to leaving her children in Tavey's care several times while she returned to New Orleans to try and build a new life.

Last month Erica Alphonse returned and said she told Tavey that it was time for her to take her children home to New Orleans for good. That's when she said Tavey "went bananas" and vanished with the children.

"I pray everyday. At least three or four times every day, just take each day at a time,” Erica Alphonse told 11 News on Wednesday.

She said she is trying to keep a positive attitude.

"I just go get my pictures. Look at my picture and think about the good things. Me and my children. The good days we had together until I get them back. That is what keeps me going,” said Alphonse.

When asked why she took the children, Tavey said she left with them because she was threatened with a knife by Alphonse and she believed that the children would be in danger if they were left with their real mother. The DA checked out Tavey's accusations and said none of them checked out.

They also said that Tavey has been less than truthful with them during the course of the investigation.

The DA's office filed five kidnapping charges on Tavey after she refused to bring the children in.

”You get to a point of no choice but to file the criminal charges. We’ve resorted to everything. We’ve given her every option to cooperate and to assist us, every opportunity to do the right thing," said Assistant District Attorney Jane Waters. "She has put us in the position of having to file the criminal charges.”

In the meantime, Erica Alphonse has been staying in Houston with a friend and said she's not going anywhere until she gets her children back.

The DA handling the cases says that she has not spoken to Tavey since the charges were filed against her on Monday evening.  She said she hopes Tavey does the right thing and safely turns herself in.

Alphonse also had a message for Tavey.

"Rhonda, I'm saying this from the heart: you've been our family for three years," Alphonse said. "You've grown accustomed to loving my children and loving me. I've grown accustomed to loving you. I never thought you would do this to me."

Tavey is believed to be driving a blue 2004 Chrysler Town and Country Van, Texas License Plate 963-PTB.