RICE LAKE, Wis. (WCCO) — Two toddlers were discovered stuck in marshland in Barron County, Wis. after the two apparently wandered away from their babysitter.

According to the Rice Lake Police Department, authorities responded to a call of two children ages 2 or 3 wandering around without any shoes. The kids were reported to be playing in the middle of Montanis Avenue.

Responding officers searched a nearby marshy area near the lake. One officer reported sinking to the top of her boots before hearing a child crying nearby.

The officer called out, and a child responded, saying that the two of them had become “stuck in the mud, surrounded by ocean.”

The two boys were eventually located, stuck in the marsh up to their knees. They were freed.

Police reported the boys were “scared, wet and shivering,” but otherwise unharmed.

The Department of Health and Human Services is investigating the incident.