MANAGUA – Nicaragua has deported a U.S. citizen wanted in his own country for having absconded to Central America with his three young children, according to the U.S. Embassy in Managua.

David Matusiewicz and his mother, Lenore Matusiewicz, had been wanted in the United States for more than a year for having abducted Laura, Leigh and Karen.

The arrest was a joint effort between security officials at the U.S. Embassy and Nicaraguan police, who tracked Matusiewicz, his mother and the girls to a home on the outskirts of the city of Masaya, 17 kilometers south of the capital.

U.S. diplomats made the necessary arrangements with Nicaraguan police and Immigration authorities to return the three girls to their mother, who has legal custody of them.

In the last 19 months, agents with the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service followed clues provided by the U.S. Marshals Service regarding the fugitives.

Matusiewicz was deported to the United States, where he is facing kidnapping and bank fraud charges, according to an embassy statement.