Missing Ill. Boy Found Hidden Behind Wall at Grandma's

Mother charged in connection with 6-year-old's disappearance

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 6, 2009 9:44 AM CDT

(Newser) – Authorities in Illinois have found a boy who’d been missing for nearly 2 years hidden behind a wall in his grandmother’s house, and arrested his mother and grandmother in connection with his disappearance, the Chicago Tribune reports. “It was a good day today,” one official said, after cops found 6-year-old Richard Chekevdia and his mother in a hideaway 5 by 12 feet and roughly the height of a washing machine. Another official said the boy is “in very good spirits.”

“We let him out of the (patrol) car and he ran around like he'd never seen outdoors. It was actually very sad,” he added. Chekevdia’s mother, who accused his father of sexually abusing him, has been charged with felony child abduction, while his grandmother’s facing aiding and abetting charges. The boy’s father, who won custody shortly before he and his mother disappeared in November 2007, expressed shock. “Two years? You have no idea. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.”

[Images (4)]

[Quotes (2)]

In this August 2007 photo, Richard Chekevdia poses with father Michael Chekevdia at a wedding in West Frankfort, Ill. (AP Phoito/Chekevdia Family)

In this August 2007 photo provided by Michael Chekevdia, Richard Chekevdia poses at a wedding in West Frankfort, Ill. (AP Phoito/Chekevdia Family)

Shannon Wilfong, who disappeared in 2007 with her son, was charged with felony child abduction after the boy was found hidden behind a wall at his grandmother's home. (AP Photo/Franklin County Sheriff's Department via The Southern Illinoisan)

US Marshals and Illinois State Police discovered a boy who had been missing for nearly two years during a raid on this home, seen Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/The Southern Illinoisan, Alan Rogers)

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Surprisingly, Ricky is in very good spirits. For someone who's been isolated in that house with no other outside beings, he's a very social, very polite, very talkative little boy. - Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Stan Diggs

I had a firm belief he was in there, and yesterday it was confirmed. - Michael Chekevdia, Richard's father

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Missing Ill. Boy Found Hidden Behind Wall at Grandma's