Thursday, January 17, 2013

Volume 97; Number 29

www.bladepublishing.net

A community newspaper serving Browerville, MN and surrounding areas. USPS 067-560

Commissioners take Oath of Office, set 2013 appointments

By Rin Porter At the first Todd County board meeting of 2013, Commissioners Randy Neumann and Gary Kneisl were elected by their fellow commissioners to serve as chair and vice-chair, respectively for the coming year. The election followed the swearing-in of newly-elected Commissioner Rodney Erickson, who will represent District 3, and of re-elected Commissioners Gary Kneisl and Dave Kircher, representing Districts 2 and 4, by Judge Jay Carlson. The Staples World newspaper submitted a bid on behalf of all four newspapers published in the county to co-publish official county notices in the Legal sections of all newspapers, as has been true since 2008. The bid was approved. Commissioners spent time deciding on committee appointments for the year. Erickson requested committee assignments that included evening meetings, so he could keep [his] day job. Erickson was appointed to serve as the regular or alternate member of 15 standing committees and boards, similar to the appointments of the other four commissioners. Most of the committees and boards meet monthly or quarterly. Auditor-Treasurer Karen Busch was re-appointed to serve as Clerk of the County Board, now that Nathan Burkett is no longer employed by the county. As County Administrator, Burkett served as Clerk of the County Board from December 2009 to December 2012. The setting of meeting dates was tabled until the next county board meeting, to be held on Tuesday, Jan.22.

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Above: The Iddings home in rural Ward Township, Browerville. Inset top: Richard Wayne Landers Jr., AKA Michael Jeff Landers of Browerville as a young boy. Lower left: Pictured outside his home in Browerville, Minnesota Michael Jeff Landers faced reporters as a 24-year-old

Schueller obtains 200th career victory

Missing Indiana boy found in rural Browerville,

news media converges on the community
Friday, January 11, 2013, was anything but a typical day in Browerville. Rumors were abounding about an abducted child being found in the Browerville area, which led to an internet search. No names were released at first, just the information that a 24 year old adult was living in the area and he had been abducted by his grandparents in 1994, when he was five years old. The grandparents were listed as being residents of Browerville. Not long after that the Todd County Sheriff s Office issued a news release, that read in part: The Todd County Sheriff s Office received a request from the Indiana State Police to assist them in the investigation into an abduction case that was reported in LaGrange County, Indiana, in 1994. A 5 year old boy, Richard Wayne Landers Jr., was believed to have been abducted by his paternal grandparents. The grandparents Richard E. Landers and Ruth A. Landers were allegedly upset over pending court proceedings regarding the placement of their grandson. The Landers allegedly took their grandson and left their home in the Wolcottville, Ind. area to an unknown location. Arrest warrants were subsequently issued for both grandparents charging them with Interference with Custody, a Class B Misdemeanor. In 1999, those charges were elevated to Interference with Custody, a Class C Felony. In September of 2008, with neither the child nor his grandparents ever having been located, the LaGrange County Prosecutors Office filed a letter with the Court and the charges were dropped. In September of 2012 a man from Long Prairie, MN was found using the same Social Security number and date of birth as the missing boy from LaGrange County. Indiana State Police presented the case to the Todd County Sheriffs Office for assistance. As a result of the investigation, it was determined that the young adult was in fact Richard Wayne Landers Jr., now living under the name Michael Jeff Landers in rural Browerville. The grandparents are now living under the names Raymond Michael Iddings, 67, and Susan Kay Iddings, 63, in rural Browerville. In statements to Investigators, the grandparents indicated their true identities and verified that the young man was Richard Wayne Landers, Jr. The investigation is ongoing. Sheriff Peter J. Mikkelson Todd County Sheriffs Office Richard Wayne Landers Jr., was reportedly abducted when he was 5 years old. The 24-yearold Michael Landers now lives in rural Browerville. It's unclear what Landers knew about his history, but authorities said he had lived with his grandparents since birth. A posting from his Facebook account appeared Friday night on the Minneapolis television station KARE's Facebook page, saying: "For you people who jump to conclusions you should find out the whole story I was where I needed to be. My `grandparents' were in the the right I don't care what anyone else thinks."

Browerville Boys Basketball Coach, Robert Schueller, obtained his 200th career victory when the Tiger boys defeated Royalton 71-35 in front of a full gymnasium of parents and fans on Parents Night, January 8th.

Continued on page 16

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT

Tue. Jan. 15 Mostly Sunny 19/13 Wed. Jan. 16 Flurries 27/-3 Thur. Jan. 17 Partly Cloudy 13/10 Fri. Jan. 18 Partly Cloudy 26/12 Sat. Jan. 19 Partly Cloudy/Wind 20/-5 Sun. Jan. 20 Flurries 9/-21