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Missing Ill. Boy Found Hidden Behind Wall at Grandma's
Mother charged in connection with 6-year-old's disappearance
By Matt Cantor
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Posted Sep 6, 09 9:44 AM CDT
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(Newser)
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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.”