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Five-year-old Richard Wayne Landers Jr. was abducted from LaGrange County, Indiana, in 1994. He was found this week in Minnesota, now 24-years-old. (January 11, 2013) |
The grandparents were charged 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 after a conversation between Richard Harter, Lisa Harter's husband, and an Indiana State Police detective who attended the same church prompted another search of Landers' Social Security number after several others over the years yielded no sign of him, Muntz said.
That turned up a man with the same number and birthday with an address in Long Prairie, about 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
Indiana State Police then contacted Minnesota law enforcement agencies, which began investigating along with the FBI and the Social Security Administration.
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.
Now that Landers has been located, his mother is eager to talk to him, but that hasn't happened yet, Muntz said.
"What we're trying to do now is try to establish a way for Lisa and young Richard to get reacquainted," the attorney said.
Richard W. Landers Sr. also expressed interest in making contact with his son.
"I'm just thankful my boy is still alive, and I'll still get a chance to see him," he told the News-Sun. He also said he has forgiven his parents.
A woman who answered a phone number associated with the Iddingses declined a request for an interview. A couple who answered the door at their home declined to identify themselves and also refused an interview.