Bryce Powell, the court-appointed attorney for the children's mother, 
confirmed late Friday that talks have taken place with the children. He 
wouldn't say who was involved. He said progress had been made but more 
work remains to coax the children from the house.

"The children have food and water and they know their mom is alive," Powell 
said as he drove away from the isolated home, set off in the north Idaho 
woods on a barricaded dirt road.

Bonner County prosecutor Phil Robinson said he hoped contact with the 
children would escalate negotiations.

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