RICHARD WAYNE LANDERS JR - 5 yo - (1994) Wolcotteville, IN

Indiana boy abducted in '94 found in Minnesota

Posted: 10:04 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013




This photo provided by the Indiana State Police shows Richard Wayne Landers,Jr. who authorities say was abducted from Indiana by his paternal grandparents in 1994 during custody proceedings. Authorities say a 24-year-old man with the same Social Security number and date of birth as Landers but living under a different name was located in October, 2012 in Long Prairie, Minn. Police said his grandpareState Police)

By KEN KUSMER
The Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana woman whose young son was abducted 19 years ago was screaming and "jumping up and down" after learning he was living in Minnesota under a different name, her husband said Thursday shortly after police announced they had found him.

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.

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 would face charges, citing the ongoing investigation.

Landers' mother, Lisa Harter, was "jumping up and down for joy" when investigators told her a few days ago that her son had been found, her husband Richard Harter told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

He said his wife is "the happiest woman on earth."

Harter said he and his wife were working with an attorney and hoped to reunite with his stepson soon. Police said Landers is married and expecting his first child.

Harter declined further comment and referred questions about the case to his attorney, who didn't immediately return phone messages Thursday. Investigators declined to release the names under which Landers and his grandparents had been living.

Police said the boy's paternal grandparents, Richard E. and Ruth A. Landers, abducted him in July 1994 because they were "upset over pending court proceedings" regarding his placement.

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 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.

Investigators reopened the case in September when Richard Harter turned over the boy's Social Security card to an Indiana State Police detective.

That turned up a man with the same Social Security number and date of birth living in Long Prairie, Minn., about 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis. A driver's license photo for the man appeared to resemble Landers, police said.

Indiana State Police then contacted Minnesota law enforcement agencies, which began investigating along with the FBI and the Social Security Administration.

The grandparents were found living in nearby Browerville, Minn.
.
"By all accounts, it didn't appear he suffered from any abuse, either physical or mental," Galaviz said.

www.myfoxdetroit.com/.../indiana-boy-abducted-in-94-found-in-mi..

LONG PRAIRIE, Minn. – A 24-year-old man discovered living in Minnesota under an assumed name was abducted by his paternal grandparents nearly two decades ago when his unemployed mother was living in a car in Indiana, authorities said Friday.

The grandparents could face federal charges in the case, a Minnesota sheriff said.

Richard Wayne Landers Jr. now lives in the small northern Minnesota town of Long Prairie under the name Michael Jeff Landers, the Todd County Sheriff’s Office said Friday. Indiana State Police announced that Landers had been found on Thursday.
Landers had lived with his grandparents since birth. But in July 1994, after a dispute between Landers’ mother and the grandparents over his custody, the grandparents took him from their home in Wolcottville, about 50 miles southeast of South Bend, and fled.

“I’m not sure that they (the grandparents) ever had legal custody,” said John R. Russell, who spent several months investigating Landers’ disappearance in 1994 when he was a road deputy for the LaGrange County Sheriff’s Department.

The then-5-year-old boy’s mother and stepfather were unemployed and lived in a car, Russell recalled.
“These people [the grandparents] were nice people. It was wrong for them to do it, but I can understand why,” he said. “But I also didn’t think the child would be in any danger at all with them.”

Landers’ stepfather, Richard Harter, did not respond to phone calls Friday from an Associated Press reporter. A phone number for Landers’ mother, Lisa Harter, could not be located.

No home listing could be found for Michael Landers. Messages left with his wife were not immediately returned.
Minnesota officials say the grandparents – now living in the nearby town of Browerville, Minn., 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 woman who answered a phone number associated with the Iddingses said she has told the truth to the officials who need to know, and declined a request for an interview. A couple who answered the door at their home declined to identify themselves and also refused an interview.

The grandparents were charged at the time of the abduction 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.

Investigators reopened the case in September when Richard Harter turned over the boy’s Social Security card to an Indiana State Police detective. That turned up a man with the same Social Security number and date of birth living in Long Prairie, about 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis. A driver’s license photo for the man appeared to resemble Landers, police said.

Indiana State Police then contacted Minnesota law enforcement agencies, which began investigating along with the FBI and the Social Security Administration.

Todd County Sheriff Peter Mikkelson said once an investigation is complete, the case would be forwarded to the U.S. attorney general for possible charges.

Police spokesman Sgt. Ron Galaviz said it appears Landers’ father was never in the picture. Lisa and Richard Harter had married a year before the boy’s abduction.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Richard Harter said his wife was “jumping up and down for joy” when investigators told her a few days ago that her son had been found.

He said his wife is “the happiest woman on earth.”

Harter said he and his wife were working with an attorney and hoped to reunite with his stepson soon. Police said Landers is married and expecting his first child.

Harter declined further comment and referred questions about the case to his attorney, who didn’t return phone messages Thursday and Friday.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/11/nearly-20-years-after-grandparents-abducted-him-in-indiana-man-found-living-in-minnesota-under-assumed-name/

Minnesota man, 24, defends grandparents who abducted him from his homeless mother 19 years ago

Richard Wayne Landers Jr. had been living under an assumed named until his real
identity was uncovered this week by officials in Minnesota.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS


Saturday, January 12, 2013, 10:01 AM


Richard Wayne Landers, now 24, was taken by his grandparents when he was
five-years-old. They had cared for him since birth but apparently never
had legal custody, officials said.

A 24-year-old Minnesota man who was abducted by his paternal grandparents nearly two decades ago has come to their defense, saying he was “right where I needed to be.”

Richard Wayne Landers Jr. had been living under the name of Michael Jeff Landers for 19 years until his real identity was uncovered this week, the Todd County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

When he was 5-years-old, Landers’ grandparents took him from his mother, who was living in a car in Indiana, and raised the young boy under the assumed name in Minnesota.

BOY ABDUCTED AT AGE 5 FOUND 19 YEARS LATER

The grandparents could face federal charges in the case, a Minnesota sheriff said.

But Landers was quick to stand up for the people who raised him, telling local news station KARE that before people “jump to conclusions you should find out the whole story.”


Indiana State Police/AP
This photo provided by the Indiana State Police shows Richard Wayne Landers,
Jr. who authorities say was abducted from Indiana by his paternal
grandparents in 1994 during custody proceedings.


“I was where I needed to be,” Landers said. “My "grandparents" were in the the right I don’t care what anyone else thinks. signed Richard Wayne Landers."

Landers had lived with his grandparents since birth. But in July 1994, after a custody dispute with his mother, the grandparents fled their home in Indiana with the young boy.

The boy's mother and stepfather were unemployed and lived in a car, investigators said.

The grandparents were charged at the time with abduction with interference with custody. The charges were dismissed in 2008 after the case went cold.

The grandparents — now living in the town of Browerville, Minn., under the assumed names Raymond Michael Iddings and Susan Kay Iddings — verified Landers' identity, officials said.

They were known as Richard E. and Ruth A. Landers at the time of the abduction.

Landers was using his real Social Security number, which is how investigators finally pinned down his identity.


The home of Michael Jeff Landers, near his grandparents’ home outside
Browerville, Minn. Authorities have determined that Landers, 24, is
really Richard Wayne Landers Jr.

www.nydailynews.com/.../boy-abducted-5-found-indiana-article-1.1...

Of course he is sticking up for his grandparents. They raised him and he loves them. He doesn't know his mother. He believes whatever they told him about her and it very likely has no basis in fact. They wanted to make their abduction seem OK. It wasn't, it was against state and federal laws.

They need to be prosecuted.