FOUND AFTER 19 YEARS.....

This story is absolutely amazing! So, I'm going to just get right to it. A woman from Indiana is apparently ecstatic over the news that her son, who was abducted 19 years ago by his grandparents, was alive and well, living in Minnesota under a different name and is expecting his first child. 

Richard Wayne Landers Jr. was only 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. According to Indiana State Police, the now 24-year-old Landers was found in Long Prairie, Minnesota, thanks to his social security number. Wait a minute! In 19 years, they couldn't figure that out? Or did they think he was dead this whole time? Anyway, his grandparents, who were living under aliases in a nearby town, confirmed his identity. No word yet on if the grandparents will be facing any charges of kidnapping or not. Personally, something should happen to them for taking a child from his mother for 19 years no matter what they believed was right or wrong. The law is the law!

Landers' mother, Lisa Harter was jumping for joy when investigators told her a few days ago that her son had been found and was alive. According to her husband, she's the 'happiest woman on earth' at the moment. He also said that they were working with an attorney to reunite with their stepson, who is now married and expecting his first child, soon. That was all he was able to release at the time. Investigators also declined to release the names under which Landers and his grandparents were living under for their protection.

According to police, the boy’s paternal grandparents, Richard and Ruth Landers, abducted him in July 1994 because they were upset over pending court proceedings regarding his placement. It appeared the boy’s father was never in the picture and mother Lisa and Richard Harter married a year before the abduction. Authorities believe that the grandparents took the boy from their home in Wolcottville and fled. They were originally charged at the time with misdemeanor interference with custody, which was upgraded to a felony in 1999, but the charges were 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. 

The social security number turned up a man with the same number and date of birth living in Long Prairie, Minnesota, about 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis. The driver's license photo for the man appeared to resemble Landers. I guess that means he still looks like a 5-year-old? Anyway, Indiana State Police then contacted Minnesota law enforcement agencies, which began with the FBI and the social security administration. The grandparents were found living in nearby Browerville, Minnesota, and the boy, who's now a man, didn't appear to have suffered from any abuse, either physical or mental. Oh, that's great to know! The kid was still kidnapped! Doesn't anyone realize this? Whether is alive and well or not, the grandparents still committed a crime that any normal person would be punished for. This is a great story with sort of a happy ending, but probably not for the grandparents.