For the Lost Blog

The amount of times I have now read a comment on the news stories devoted to the recovery of Richard Chekevdia that says “she must have had a very good reason” baffles me. She kept her child inside for two years. In a tiny room. No one would be defending a male abductor. Is it really so ingrained in people that mothers always do best for their children that they will excuse anything they do? And are there more than a handful of kidnapping cases where mom doesn’t say she did it to protect her kid from their evil abusive father?

I suspect the answer is “no.”

I have just received word Richard Chekevdia has been found safe. According to this article, he has spent the past two years in a hidden four by twelve room. To give you an idea how small that is, it’s only slightly larger than a two person Smart car. He was not allowed to go outside. I’m used to bad treatment of kids in these cases, but these circumstances still stun me. I have resolved his case. The new case on the site is that of Sean Morrow.

Only a short few days after I write a post about him, Luca Principali is found safe. His mother turned herself in to the police. I’m glad about this. One can only wonder if this is in the trend of the honesty I touched on previously – if you flat out admit you took the kid for spite there’s less justification for keeping them away from the other parent on your part. I wish him and his father the best in re-adjusting.

I have been closely following the abduction of Luca Principali from his Idaho home. He was taken while being looked after by a baby-sitter. She answered the door and there was a bearded man there who stated he was there with Luca’s mother. (His parents are seperated; his mother has not seen him in a year and a half.) Neighbors heard a scream and an Amber Alert was issued. This article shows the planning involved in the abduction.

A slashed car tire delayed Luca Principali’s father just long enough for his mother and an accomplice to nab him from his Boise home, investigators said last week to persuade a judge to issue a warrant for her arrest for kidnapping.

The half-hour it took Anthony Principali to change his tire bought the time the kidnappers needed to nab the boy and leave a 14-year-old baby sitter so scared she didn’t call police.

This is elaborate, of course, but not overly so for a parental kidnapper. What I found refreshing was his mother’s admission of her motive.

About two hours after Luca was abducted on Aug. 19, Ekaterina Principali called Anthony Principali and told him she took the boy to teach the father a lesson and that she would return the boy later.

Very few abductors admit at the start they are doing it to spite the other parent. I would actually rather see this than someone blathering on about how the kid’s better off with the abductor.

Incidentally, the divorce papers Anthony Principali filed that day asked for joint custody of Luca. It was only after the kidnapping that he asked this to be changed to sole custody.

I sincerely hope that Luca is found before he’s eligible for our site.

DNA confirms it. And she has had two children with her kidnapper. I’m disgusted, but not really surprised.

Considering there are several other unsolved abductions in the general area, I hope these people are looked at.

I am sure by now everyone’s seen this story. Didn’t stop me from saying to myself “Oh my God.” This is Shawn Hornbeck, Elizabeth Smart, Natascha Kampusch, and Francisco Andrade Vega cubed.

I would be lying if I said that Jaycee would be okay from now on. But her family and friends don’t have to wonder anymore. Even if she had been found dead, that would be a plus. This is even better.

For the Lost is mentioned briefly in this article about the Port St. Joe Polaroids that still are unsolved to this day. I am pretty sure this is the first time the organization has been mentioned in an article about anything. It doesn’t say a great deal about it that’s new, but it’s interesting reading nonetheless.

A particular parental kidnapper has just written to me to ask for an address to serve legal papers to me. I responded with “What happens if I don’t give you one?”

I will attempt to keep my minions updated.

For those who are mad I called their loved one a kidnapper:

I am female. I have no children. My parents are divorced, but had a amiable seperation and get along fine with each other. I have no major issues with either parent. I am not a misogynist or a misandrist, although I have misanthrope tendencies. I am not harder on abductors of the gender of your loved one. I think kidnapping is a crime, and is child abuse. If your accounts are ancedotes and are not backed up with actual evidence, I won’t fall all over your feet to agree with you. If you give me court documents, please give me the whole document in question so I can judge it in context. Do not claim you are unrelated to the abductor; do not lie about your location.

Also, refer to the comment/post policy linked in the sidebar if you want to know what comments are approved.

I never wanted this to happen to family abduction kids on my site.

It now has.

All three were found dead in their father’s car, which had been run into a lake. The father was also inside. It coud be accident. It could have been murder/suicide. No one will ever know.

I’ve added the cases of Adam and Jason Shannon and Luis Munguia-Zendejas. I’ve updated the victims post. Right now I’m too depressed to do anything else.