Boy Hidden in Crawlspace to Keep Away From Dad

Two years ago, an Illinois father, Mike Chekevdai, was awarded temporary custody of his son, Richard "Ricky" Chekevdia. Mom, Shannon Wilfong, then took her son and went into hiding...into her mother's home in a specially built room no higher than a washing machine. The child's grandmother says that she did put the boy into this crawlspace but he didn't live there. I sure hope not!

Says a police officer:

"We let him out of the police car and he ran around like he's never seen the outdoors," said Illinois State Police Sgt. Stan Diggs. "It was actually very sad."

All this time, the boy was three miles from his father, who had no idea what had happened to his son. The mother had accused the father of molesting their son, but child welfare didn't find any evidence of abuse.

The mother is now in jail (charged with felony kidnapping). Her mother and her fiance are being charged with aiding and abetting.

Dad will be reunited with his son later this week.