TWO young children have been found dead in Turkey with their mother who allegedly abducted them from the custody of their Hampshire dad.

Justin Mellersh, from Lyndhurst, launched a European-wide hunt to find his eight-year-old son Yaanis and six-year-old daughter, Mira, after their German mother, Elke, fled with the youngsters in February last year.

But that hunt ended in tragedy over the weekend when police found the three bodies in a farmhouse, in the seaside town of Soke, on Turkey's Aegean coast.

A Facebook page dedicated to trying to find the children said: “On November 18th 2011, all three were found dead in Turkey. Elke had committed suicide and taken the kids with her. This had been our greatest fear.”

Reports from the country suggest that the family died of carbon monoxide poisoning - possibly from a heater.

The farmhouse's windows had been taped up and a note left on the front door stating “Caution: Toxic”.