The Honolulu Police Department activated the Maile Amber Alert system Tuesday after a mother reported that her ex-boyfriend failed to return her two sons after a Sunday outing.

At 12:14 p.m. Tuesday the state’s Emergency Alert System sent out a link to a flyer posted on HPD’s X feed with photos of two boys, ages 10 and 11, and their hanai father, 54-year-old Shane Santos.

Both boys were recovered after Santos saw the alert and within five minutes called the mother and agreed to meet with HPD officers at the mother’s work place, a gas station on Kalihi Street.

In a petition for a temporary restraining order filed and secured by the mother on Monday, she told the court Santos had not returned her van or children. She also alleged he threatened to hit her 16-year-old daughter with a bat. Santos allegedly threatened to choke the mother.

The couple had been together for nine years. Santos has 51 prior criminal convictions in Hawaii, and served time for felony theft and escape.

The boys were taken to a hospital for examination after they were returned. Santos was not arrested, police said, noting that the investigation is ongoing.

Custodial interference, endangering the welfare of a minor, kidnapping and assault are among the crimes being looked at during the ongoing investigation.

HPD posted the flyer on X because it is the only social media platform that does not require an account to view, according to Detective Michael Garcia, who supervises HPD’s missing- persons detail.

The spike in traffic caused by the alert would have overwhelmed the county’s information website and HPD’s website, Garcia said, speaking at a news conference.

At about 11 p.m. the mother called police and said she had allowed the children to go with Santos to Palolo. At about 7:30 p.m. Sunday night, one of the boys called and said they were on the way home, according to police.

Santos and the boys’ mother started arguing, police said, and the call cut off. Repeated attempts to call back Santos did not work. No alert was issued at that time because there was no known threat to the boys.

Police decided to issue the alert Tuesday after the mother told police Santos hit one of her sons and had never taken them for this long.

Lt. Deena Thoemmes, who supervises the missing-person, strategic enforcement and homicide details, thanked state emergency management and transportation officials and the Missing Child Center Hawaii for the fast teamwork.

“The cooperative efforts of everyone involved helped us locate William and Raymond safely,” she said.

A Maile Amber Alert is a Minor Abducted in Life- threatening Emergency/America’s Broadcast Emergency Response Alert. It is a “voluntary partnership between the four county police departments, Civil Defense, local broadcasters” and state agencies to “maximize the dissemination of public information” to help law enforcement find minors and their abductors in critical situations.

Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System to air a “description of the abducted child and suspected abductor — the same concept used during severe weather emergencies,” according to the state.

The alert sent Tuesday asked anyone who saw the boys, Santos or the van to call 911. It noted that the boys were last seen with Santos at about 11:40 a.m. Sunday.