BELFAST (AP) – An Albion couple who left their toddlers to fend for themselves in the woods after they fled from police made their initial court appearances Tuesday and were ordered held on $15,000 cash bail apiece.

Sean Anderson, 24, and Kristie Lee Anderson, 25, were returned to the Waldo County Jail after they entered pleas of not guilty in Belfast District Court. They’re each charged with burglary and endangering the welfare of a child.

Police said two are suspects in a string of burglaries, and they fled into the woods with the toddlers while trying to evade police.

After a massive search, the toddlers were found huddled together Saturday morning a mile from where their mother was found, police said. One was wearing a jacket over her pajamas, but the other jacket was discarded. Neither was wearing shoes.

Kaylan, who is nearly 3 years old, and Kallie, who is 16 months old, were treated for mild frostbite and then released to their grandparents.

“I tell you what it was, a miracle,” said Richard Harriman, the grandfather. He was up with searchers through the night and saw the thermometer dip to 29 degrees before dawn Saturday morning.

The Andersons fled after they learned Friday afternoon that they were wanted by police for two burglaries. They hid their car on a dirt road and headed into the woods with their children, thinking police were hot on their trail.

They reported that they heard dogs and thought that officers were closing in, but what they heard were neighborhood dogs barking, said Chief Deputy Bob Keating of the Waldo County Sheriff’s Department. “They were not being pursued by the police,” he said.

Sean Anderson, who broke away from the other three, eventually emerged from the woods and phoned a relative. Concerned family members called police at about 4 p.m., and a massive search was launched after Sean Anderson told police what had happened.

More than 200 people searched overnight and Saturday morning. Wardens used tracking dogs and flew aircraft with thermal imaging equipment.

Searchers on all-terrain vehicles found Kristie Anderson, alone, around 9 a.m. about 11/2 miles from the abandoned car. She had taken off her coat, a sign of hypothermia and confusion, and didn’t know where the girls were, police said.

About an hour later, a searcher in an airplane spotted the girls about a mile from where their mother was found. Around the same time, a searcher on the ground found the older girl lying on top of her younger sister to keep warm, officials said.

“It was a blessing that it was as warm as it was, because if it was a typical January night in Maine, it could have been very bad,” Keating said.

Harriman said the Andersons were good parents prior to the episode in the woods. “This is the trouble with drugs,” Harriman said. “If she was in her right mind,” he said of his daughter, “she never would have done this. They’re going to get the help they need now.”

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