OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — Thousands of adoption inquiries rolled in from as far away as Ireland and New Zealand after a simple plea from five Kansas siblings: They wanted to be adopted together.

The flood of offers followed a story in the Kansas City Star about the three boys and two girls, who became known as the "Fab Five." The newspaper story drew nearly 7 million online readers, and an unprecedented number of adoption inquiries crashed the state-contracted Adopt Kansas Kids website a day after the story ran.

But it turns out that a local couple had narrowly beat the flood of interest. And on Wed...