A five-year-old boy who went missing almost 20 years ago has been found alive, after apparently being abducted by his grandparents.
Richard Wayne Landers, now 24, was abducted from his home in northeast Indiana, US, in 1994. His grandparents, Richard and Ruth Landers, have used dozens of different alias for two decades covering their tracks, according to the Indiana News Centre.
Police located the young man in September after his stepfather, Richard Harter, contacted Indiana State Police after finding Lander's social security number, which matched the number and date of birth of a man living in Long Prairie, Minnesota.
Indiana State Police's Ron Galaviz said: "This bomb shell was just dropped on this young man within the last couple of days. It's probably going to take a little time to digest.
"By all accounts, it didn't appear he suffered from any abuse, either physical or mental."
According to Sky, the grandparents have admitted their true identities and confessed the young man, whose wife is pregnant, was their grandson.
Richard Wayne Landers, Jr. who authorities say was abducted from Indiana by his paternal grandparents in 1994
The grandparents had long been the focus of the police's investigation, and had been charged with interference with custody; but the charges were dropped in 2008, when neither the boy nor the grandparents had been found.
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" and hoped to reunite with his stepson soon.