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Family friend of missing Round Rock girls fighting to keep them together

As the two girls who went missing from their home in Round Rock return to Texas, many are concerned about their custody.

Leann Dornhoefer is a woman of many words, but Friday she didn't say much at her home in Williamson County.

The words "I'm grateful they're home," is all she said at first. Dornhoefer, along with so many others, prayed for the safe return of her friend Tonya Bates' daughters. Round Rock Police say Terry Miles allegedly kidnapped the girls after the body of their mother was found on New Year's Eve.

“I wish I had been more observant, you know, and said more, but I don't believe that Tonya meant for any of this to happen. I don't believe that she ever suspected it would happen,” Dornhoefer said.

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The focus is finding the girls a home. They're in Round Rock with Child Protective Services. The agency told KVUE Friday the girls will stay in the agency's custody in foster care. CPS is asking a Williamson County judge to terminate the parental rights of both fathers of the girls. In a petition filed on Thursday, CPS states there is an immediate danger to their safety.

“There's no telling what they've experienced, there's no telling what they've been through,” Dornhoefer said.

But Dornhoefer believes her home may be the best fit for them. She says the girls do not have family in the Austin area and her daughter is best friends with one of the girls.

“Getting them back to an environment that they're going to know is going to be a way to help them heal,” Dornhoefer said.

Leann knows healing will take some time but she hopes to see the girls soon and tell them how much she cares about them.

Terry Miles is in a Colorado jail on federal kidnapping charges for taking the girls. He's also a person of interest in the death of the girls' mother. U.S. Marshals say it may be another couple of weeks before Miles will be brought back to Texas.

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