November 5, 2024 15:21 PM

Boy Abducted in 94 Found: Richard Wayne Landers Found in Minnesota

A boy who disappeared in 1994 from LaGrange County, Indiana has been found. The Los Angeles Times reported that at the time authorities believed that his grandparents had taken him after being upset over custody arrangements and arrest warrants were placed on them. The boy, Richard Wayne Landers Jr was at the time 5-years-old.

In 2008 authorities dropped the charges after not being able to find the grandparents or Landers. Last fall, however The LA Times reported that he was found alive and married in Browerville, Minnesota.

Indiana state police recently announced his discovery on Thursday and said they found Landers, who is now, 24 after his stepfather, Richard, Harter gave police his social security card.

An investigation went underway in the Long Prarie Police Department in Minnesota incuding the FBI. Lander's grandparets were also found living closeby in Browerville Minessota. Indiana State Police Sgt. Ron Galaviz said to The LA TImes, "They said, 'Yeah, we are who you think we are and he is who you think he is."

Landers was living under an alias-Michael Jeff Landers. Police have declined to say whether the grandparents will face any charges. The Associated Press reported that Landers' mother, Lisa Harter, was "jumping up and down for joy when investigators told her that her son had been found.

Her husband, Richard Harter said to the AP that his wife is "the happiest woman on earth."

"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," reported TIME.

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