After nearly twenty years missing, 24-year-old Richard Wayne Landers Jr., abducted by his grandparents at the age of 5 in July of 1994, was found on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013 living in Long Prairie, Minnesota.
According to nationalpost.com, at the time of his disappearance, Landers Jr.’s mother, Lisa Harter, and stepfather, Richard Harter, were living in their car, unemployed. Landers Jr. was raised by his grandparents, Richard and Ruth Landers, but they never obtained full custody.
After an argument between his mother and grandparents regarding the custody of Landers Jr., he was abducted by his grandparents, taken to Minnesota, and unseen for the next 20 years.
Soon after the abduction, Landers Jr.’s grandparents were charged with a misdemeanor due to interference with his custody. The misdemeanor was raised to a felony five years later in 1999, and after years without a lead in the case, the charges were dropped in 2008.
The case was opened back up in September after Landers Jr.’s stepfather gave State Police his son’s social security card. Using this, investigators were able to find Landers Jr., living in Long Prairie, Minnesota under the name of Michael Jeff Landers. Landers’ grandparents were also found living nearby under the names Raymond and Susan Iddings.
“These people were nice people. It was wrong for them to do it, but I can understand why,” said an investigator who had worked on the case in 1994.
Both Richard and Lisa Harter were informed of their son’s identification and hope to be reunited with him soon. Landers still lives in Long Prairie, Minnesota, with his wife, who is expecting their first child.
