A man who lost contact with his fugitive mother in 2007 after secretly meeting with her in several locations across the United States is “praying to God” she will come back home to Connecticut.
In 1996, Linda Wiegand kidnapped her sons Jonathan and Benjamin and fled from Connecticut, but was caught in Las Vegas. She was charged with custodial interference and the boys were returned to her ex-husband. But Wiegand disappeared, never showing up in court, the Hartford Courant reports.
During his teenage years, Jonathan, now 27, said he never heard from his mother. But then on his last day of high school, an ex-girlfriend of his handed him a letter written by his mother that had her contact information, and the two began writing to each other.
Jonathan met with Linda Wiegand in 2005, saying she lived in California, the Hartford Courant reports. They traveled to Texas and Key West, Fla., among other places, and arranged the trips using alternate phone numbers for secrecy as the charges against Linda were still pending.
The last time Jonathan heard from Linda was in 2007, when she told him she had a brain tumor.
Around a month ago, a judge dropped the charges against Wiegand, according to prosecutor Christopher Parakilas, who works at the Enfield Superior Court in Connecticut. He said it would be difficult to carry out a possible trial due to finances and having to track down witnesses.
Jonathan is hoping that with the charges removed, Linda will come back to Connecticut and visit her sons again.
"I'm praying to God that she'll come back now," Wiegand told the Hartford Courant. "I've cried so many nights because of this.”
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