Two teenage girls have been reported missing. They were found on a rural farm 2 years later.

LAKEVILLE, Minn. — The discovery of two teenage girls on a rural Minnesota farm in 2015 closed a missing persons case that had plagued the Lakeville Police Department — and opened an investigation into their mother's role in their disappearance.

Samantha, 14, and Gianna Rucki, 13, were discovered on a rural Minnesota farm in November 2015, two and a half years after disappearing from their aunt's house near their home in Lakeville.

Their disappearance sparked a nationwide manhunt for the girls, who authorities initially believed had fled amid their parents' divorce and custody battle.

The reality, however, became clear after their discovery.

Their mother, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, executed a plot to secretly take the two girls away.

She convinced others to join her, using baseless claims to convince her accomplices that her ex-husband and father of her children, David Rucki, was violent – ​​and that the girls needed to be saved.

Samantha and Gianna were returned to their father's care after their discovery – and all four people involved in their disappearance were convicted of various charges related to deprivation of parental and custody rights.

Their story was the focus of a 2016 20/20 episode, “Footprints in the Snow,” now available on Investigation Discovery.

Grazzini-Rucki lost a custody battle in November 2013 to David Rucki. As a result, he was granted full custody of the couple's five children, according to the website Missing in Minnesota.

The decision angered Grazzini-Rucki, who alleged in court that her husband was violent.

David Rucki denied in court that he abused his daughters, and a judge agreed, according to a report from Forum News Service.

Her claims of alleged abuse were also refuted by a psychologist, who determined that Grazzini-Rucki brainwashed her two daughters, according to a Forum News Service report.

The losing custody battle sparked a missing persons case that led investigators on a twisting trail that culminated in the discovery of the missing girls — and answered the question: How did they get there?

The Lakeville Police Department executed a search warrant at the White Horse Ranch in November 2016, looking for the two girls.

White Horse Ranch is located in the wooded areas of Herman, a small town of 386 in the western part of the state, according to a Forum News Service report filed after the discovery.

Lakeville Police Lt. Jason Polinski told Minnesota Public Radio after the arrests how the investigation went, using a series of clues.

“Every search warrant that we executed, we got another little cookie, so to speak, and the last warrant that we ended up executing yesterday, the girls were there,” Polinski told the outlet.

The girls were found in good health and were returned to their father's home in Lakeville.

From there, the whole story began to unfold.

Grazzini-Rucki gained support from a network of vigilantes dedicated to protecting children they believed to be victims of abuse.

She used the allegations against her husband as motivation to generate support.

The allegations set off a series of events that led to Samantha and Gianna's disappearance from their aunt's Lakeville home on April 21, 2013.

They disappeared, leaving their backpacks and shoes behind.

Grazzini-Rucki and her friend Dede Evavold took the girls to the rural Herman Estate, owned by Doug and Gina Dahlen.

The girls stayed there for two and a half years while the rest of the state – and the nation – kept their eyes peeled for the missing children.

After being found safe, investigators built their cases against the four people involved.

Ultimately, all four were held responsible.

Doug and Gina Dahlen each pleaded guilty in 2017 to one count of deprivation of parental rights.

Evavold was convicted of six counts of deprivation of parental rights in 2017.

Grazzini-Rucki was convicted of six counts of deprivation of custody and sentenced to 34 days in prison.

The phrase also took an unusual turn. For the next six years, Grazzini-Rucki was sentenced to 15 days in jail each year on November 18, the day her daughters were found, according to Missing in Minnesota.