Abducted boy found in Grandma's secret cell

Ricky's mother charged with felony child abduction and grandmom with aiding and abetting

Ricky's mother charged with felony child abduction and grandmom with aiding and abetting

A boy allegedly abducted nearly two years ago in a custody dispute has turned up alive, hiding with his mother in a small, specially built secret room at his grandmother's Illinois home.

In good spirits

Richard 'Ricky' Chekevdia, who turns 7 on September 14, was in good spirits and physically fit after he was found on Friday by investigators with a court order to search the two-storey rural home about 200 kilometres southeast of St. Louis.

The boy's mother, Shannon Wilfong, 30, is charged with felony child abduction. The grandmother, Diane Dobbs, 50, is charged with aiding and abetting.

Tough Times: Richard 'Ricky' Chekevdia was kidnapped nearly two years ago.

Ricky's dad is thrilled that the search has ended. "Two years? You have no idea," said Mike Chekevdia (48), a lieutenant colonel in the Illinois National Guard. "I've lost sleep. I've lost weight. I've gained weight. I wouldn't wish this on anybody," he added.

Chekevdia won temporary custody of his son shortly before the boy and his mother Chekevdia's former girlfriend disappeared in November 2007. A month later, Wilfong was charged in absentia with abducting the boy.

After freedom

"We let him out of the (patrol) car and he ran around like he'd never seen outdoors. It was actually very sad," state police Master Sgt. Stan Diggs said. "He was very happy to be outside.
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He said he never goes outside."

Last year, Dobbs told the Southern Illinoisan newspaper her daughter had been forced into hiding to keep the boy from his father. She called the custody dispute a "nightmare for all of us."