Richard Landers Jr., Ind. boy abducted in 1994, found living in Minnesota, police say

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

A young photo of Richard Wayne Landers, Jr. who was abducted from Indiana by his paternal grandparents in 1994

/ AP Photo/Indiana State Police

(CBS/AP) 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.

Indiana State Police said Richard Landers Jr. was abducted in July 1994 when he and his paternal grandparents, who were upset over custody arrangements, disappeared from Wolcottville, a town about 30 miles north of Fort Wayne.

Police said they used Richard Lander's Social Security number to help discover the now 24-year-old man living in Long Prairie, Minn., about 100 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

His grandparents were living under aliases in a nearby town and confirmed his identity. Investigators declined to release the names under which Landers and his grandparents had been living.

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.

Police said 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. Police spokesman Sgt. Ron Galaviz said it appears the boy's father was never in the picture.

Authorities believed that 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 2012 when Richard Harter turned over the boy's Social Security card to an Indiana State Police detective. This turned up a man with the same Social Security number and date of birth living in Minnesota. Police said a driver's license photo for the man appeared to resemble Landers.

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.

Meanwhile, police declined to say whether the grandparents will face charges, citing the ongoing investigation.

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by patriotgal2 May 1, 2013 10:19 AM EDT: There was a tv movie about this years ago. The grandparents then were portrayed as strict, religious nut jobs who basically wanted the child for their own. Their son and daughter-in-law had lived with them for awhile, until his parents kicked them out, keeping the child "for his safety and well-being".

When the parents tried to get their son back, the grandparents refused, even though the parents had secured employment and housing. In the movie, the grandparents first said the mother was involved in some kind of "witchcraft"; allegations which were proved false in a court of law.

These court proceedings took place over the course of a few years, and during that time the grandparents encouraged the boy to call them "mom and dad". The grandparents were themselves fairly young - in their early 40s - so I got the impression that they simply felt they had had the child in their home since he was a baby and looked upon him as their own child, rather than their grandchild.

When the courts finally said they had to give the child back to his parents, they simply kidnapped him. So, when this article says this kid wasn't abused, even mentally, I have to disagree. It's definitely emotional abuse when a child grows up thinking his grandparents are his parents - or worse, that his parents didn't want him or were unfit to care for him - both of which were untrue.

The grandparents should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This is a prime example of what damage religious fanaticism can do.; Reply to this comment


by peacefulperson January 14, 2013 10:45 AM EST: dwath100, it's not your place to judge any of this. You are just a person reading an article about some people you don't even know and will never know, having no lawful or cultural authority to judge, fully understanding that you don't have any of the facts. What gives you the right to have any expectation of judging right or wrong against any of these people?; Reply to this comment


by dwath100 January 13, 2013 2:03 PM EST: Another case of lousy reporting. Surely there is more information as to motive. The courts are anything but fair. Who can make any decision of right and wrong based on this article. REPORTERS! DO YOUR JOBS. WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW AND WHY!; Reply to this comment


by Jonseen January 13, 2013 12:41 AM EST: There's a lot more to this story but it's very hard to excuse these grandparents for taking a child away from his mother, for the majority of his childhood. She's lost something that can never be replaced ever, and so has the boy (who is now grown up.) This is so tragic it's hard to find words for it.

What reasons did the Grandparents have? The reasons would have to be VERY bad to justify it. And so far I haven't heard anything that would be good enough to excuse what they've done.; Reply to this comment


by FormerUSMCSergeant January 11, 2013 10:42 PM EST: Granparents who abducted their grandchild?
If that's not kidnapping, I don't know what is......; Reply to this comment