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Post by LadyBlue on Jan 11, 2013 9:41:16 GMT -5
Richard Wayne Landers Jr. was just 5 years old when he and his paternal grandparents, who were upset over custody arrangements, disappeared from Wolcottville, a town about 30 miles north of Fort Wayne. Nineteen years later, news that he has been found living under an assumed name in Minnesota left his mother overjoyed and "jumping up and down," her husband said Thursday shortly after police announced the break in the case. Indiana State Police said the now 24-year-old Landers was found in Long Prairie, Minn., thanks in part to his Social Security number. His grandparents were living under aliases in a nearby town and confirmed his identity, investigators said. Police declined to say whether the grandparents will face charges, citing the ongoing investigation. www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/10/indiana-boy-abducted-in-14-found-in-minnesota-under-different-name/Attachments:
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Post by LadyBlue on Jan 11, 2013 10:26:53 GMT -5
Police spokesman Sgt. Ron Galaviz said it appears the boy's father was never in the picture. Lisa and Richard Harter had married a year earlier. Authorities believe the grandparents took the boy from their home in Wolcottville, about 50 miles southwest of South Bend, and fled. They were charged at the time with misdemeanor interference with custody, which was bumped up to a felony in 1999. But the charge was dismissed in 2008 after the case went cold.www.thestate.com/2013/01/10/2584860/indiana-boy-abducted-in-94-found.html#.UPAug6xMd0k |
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Post by LadyBlue on Jan 11, 2013 10:45:39 GMT -5
Thesegrandparents decided/chose to take this child away from his mother for reasons that we aren't privy to but at this point I'm torn as to whether they should face charges for what they have caused, both to this boy/man and his mother. I've had a missing persons web forum for many years, and it's these kind of cases that baffled me. So many children taken be a parent or grandparent aren't followed up on because law enforcement feel that the child is probably safe because they are with a relative. Even the cases that continue to be followed up on, seem to grow cold. If this young man was using his Social Security number to work, then he shouldn't have been able to still be missing for so long. I'm waiting for the other half of the story to come out, because one and one aren't adding up to be two.
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Post by LadyBlue on Jan 11, 2013 10:54:37 GMT -5
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Post by LadyBlue on Jan 11, 2013 20:28:06 GMT -5
Investigator never feared missing boy found in MN was in dangerA sheriff's deputy who investigated the 1994 disappearance of an Indiana boy who has been found living as an adult in Minnesota says he never feared for the child's safety. Seventy-year-old retired LaGrange County sheriff's deputy John Russell said Friday he spent at least two months investigating the disappearance of then-5-year-old Richard Wayne Landers Jr. from Wolcottville, Ind., but kept running into dead ends. He says he understands why they took the child, but it was still wrong. But he says he never thought the child was in any danger. www.kare11.com/news/article/1005834/391/Investigator-never-feared-for-missing-boy-found-in-MN
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Post by LadyBlue on Jan 12, 2013 15:41:48 GMT -5
A home phone number for Landers could not be found, and he and his wife didn't respond to multiple messages sent through social networking sites. But a posting from his Facebook account appeared Friday night on the Minneapolis television station KARE's Facebook page, saying: "For you people who jump to conclusions you should find out the whole story I was where I needed to be. My 'grandparents' were in the the right I dont care what anyone else thinks." Landers didn't immediately respond to a follow-up message from The Associated Press seeking confirmation it was his statement. AP believes the Facebook account to be Landers' based on multiple links between it and confirmed friends and relatives. His grandparents during a custody dispute with Landers' mother in July 1994 from Wolcottville, Ind., about 50 miles southeast of South Bend. The mother and stepfather were unemployed and lived in a car, recalled John R. Russell, who spent several months investigating the disappearance with the LaGrange County Sheriff's Department in Indiana. "These people (the grandparents) were nice people. It was wrong for them to do it, but I can understand why," Russell said. "But I also didn't think the child would be in any danger at all with them." abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/national_world&id=8951536 |
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Post by LadyBlue on Jan 12, 2013 20:55:49 GMT -5
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Post by LadyBlue on Jan 12, 2013 20:57:17 GMT -5
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Post by LadyBlue on Jan 13, 2013 18:44:04 GMT -5
Landers' grandparents took him during a custody dispute with Landers' mother in July 1994 from Wolcottville, Ind., about 50 miles southeast of South Bend. They withdrew $5,000 out of a home equity line, went out for breakfast and left town. Investigators searched in vain for Landers, but declared the case cold. It was reopened in September after a conversation between Richard W. Landers Sr. and an Indiana State Police detective prompted another search of the Social Security number for Richard W. Landers Jr. That turned up a Minnesota man with the same number and birthday as Landers. Minnesota officials say the grandparents — now living in Browerville under the assumed names Raymond Michael Iddings and Susan Kay Iddings — verified Landers' identity. They were known as Richard E. and Ruth A. Landers at the time of the abduction. A telephone message left for the Iddingses on Saturday was not immediately returned. A couple who answered the door at their home Friday declined to identify themselves and also refused an interview. www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2013/01/12/indiana-boy-abducted-in-94-found-in-minnesota-2This case is not going to go away, these grandparents are going to have to answer for what they did, I just hope they are ready for the firestorm to come. |
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