Published: September 10, 2008 04:56 pm      

Child abduction case ends after 16 years

Lizton man goes to court on Friday

CRAWFORDSVILLE — A once cold case involving a kidnapped child came to an end recently — 16 and a half years after it started.

Brandon Hicks, then 7, was abducted March 20, 1992, from his Montgomery County home by his father, Mark. It happened right after a court granted Tammy Smith, Brandon’s mother and Hicks’ ex-wife, full custody of Brandon.

In the ensuing years Luther Blanton, Montgomery County sheriff, said his department received hundreds, possibly thousands, of tips on Brandon’s whereabouts. Some led officials as far away as Arizona. Even the Federal Bureau of Investigations got involved.

But none came to fruition. Until now.

Mark Hicks, 49, a Lizton native, negotiated a surrender with Montgomery County officials through his Indianapolis attorney, Mark Inman, and turned himself in Aug. 21. He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail and charged with a felony for violating a custody order. He later posted a $10,000 bond and was released. His initial court appearance is Friday.

Blanton said the main catalyst for Hicks’ surrender, after 16 years on the run, was to finally straighten the whole thing out.

“The words they used were ‘it was time to get this taken care of,’” he said.

Inman advised Hicks and Brandon not to disclose where they were or what they did all these years, since the case is still pending.

“We have no clue where they’ve been,” Blanton said.

The sheriff did talk to Brandon the day Hicks surrendered. He described him as “a healthy 23-year-old man in very good spirits.”

Despite the duration of the case, Blanton always believed it would eventually be solved.

“The young man would sooner or later be of the age where he would want to get things straightened out,” he said. “That’s basically what they told us when we talked to them.”

Smith, who lives in Crawfordsville, did not want to comment for this story. Inman could not be reached for comment.



wade.coggeshall@flyergroup.com