A Gainesville woman is among three Georgians who have been charged in a North Carolina kidnapping of two small children.

Natasha Cantrell, 31, of Gainesville, will be held in the Jackson County Jail until she and the other suspects are taken to North Carolina to face charges. The trio agreed to extradition Monday afternoon.

The other suspects are Chadwick Agan, 43, of Loganville, and Christopher Carter, 42, of Swainsboro.

They are charged in the abduction of Harlee Allan Joyner, 3, and Elijah Ryan Joyner, 1, who are now in protective custody, said Sgt. Brian Roberts of Georgia State Patrol Post 52 in Hartwell.

The suspects were arrested about 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning after the Asheville Police Department had issued a lookout for a Nissan passenger car involved in the kidnapping. Authorities later updated the vehicle make and model to a Ford Expedition SUV.

Initial reports were that Agan was suspected of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend’s two children, Roberts said.

Commerce Police Department officers first spotted the SUV, “but we had a lot of officers standing by,” including Jackson County sheriff’s deputies and GSP, he said.

Authorities stopped the vehicle off Interstate 85 in Jefferson at the U.S. 129 exit, which also leads to Gainesville.

“The stop went down without incident,” Roberts said.

The children weren’t in the car, which was driven by Carter, he said.

Asheville Police, which had issued an Amber Alert for the children, later sent out a statement saying the children had been safely found in Swannanoa, a small community east of Asheville, at about 1 p.m. Sunday.

Agan was charged with two counts of child abduction. Cantrell and Carter were charged with aiding and abetting an abduction and second-degree kidnapping, said Roberts, adding that no  Georgia charges were filed.

He said he didn’t know the relationship between the three suspects, nor did he know the status of the child’s mother. He also didn’t know why or how the children ended up in Swannanoa.

“I don’t know why they were up (in North Carolina) to start with,” Roberts said.

Asheville Police Spokeswoman Christina Hallingse declined further comment on the incident, saying only that it was under investigation.

Natalie N. Bailey, spokeswoman for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina, said only that the recovery took place at the Swannanoa Fire Department and that the case was turned over to Asheville Police.

“There is no further information to be released by (the sheriff’s office),” she said.