GLOUCESTER COUNTY, Va. — Less than an hour after the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office posted a missing person’s alert for a mother and her five children on Facebook, the woman and children were found safe. At 9 a.m. Thursday, sheriff’s investigators asked for help finding the family in the Holly Beach area of Gloucester. The family was last seen walking down the road and may have gotten in someone’s vehicle, the alert indicated.

About 45 minutes later however, investigators said the family had been found and the truth was revealed.

“The Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the Virginia Marine Police’s fixed wing aircraft discovered the family at about 9:43 this morning walking down a dirt road near the area they were last scene yesterday,” the sheriff’s office posted to Facebook. “The mother reported to investigators that she and the kids went camping without notifying family members.”

The Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office thanked its Facebook fans for helping spread the word about the family.

“Gloucester’s care, concern and compassion for their fellow citizens is always a great source of comfort to us all here at the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Office,” the post concluded.