We are absolutely convinced that these are the children that have been missing," Flippo said.
Child welfare workers repeatedly visited the Salinas home due to complaints of neglect, an official told The Associated Press.
But the five children living with Huntsman were not removed from her care because there was was no evidence they were at risk, Elliot Robinson, the head of the Monterey County Department of Social Services told the AP.
Two of the children belonged to Huntsman, while the other three were placed in her care by their father who was incarcerated after the death of their mother, Robinson said.
The two remaining children — 12-year-old twins living at the suspects' Quincy residence — were taken into foster care.
The two suspects moved from Salinas to Quincy earlier this month, authorities said.