11 hours ago • 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.
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