June 6, 2017- A five-year-old Harrisburg child, abducted from his home on Saturday, June 3, 2017, has been recovered safe and unharmed.  Harrisburg Bureau of Police Detective Paula Trovy along with members of Dauphin County’s Child Abduction Recovery Effort (CARE) Team and the United States Marshals Service worked diligently to locate and recover the boy safely. 

The child, who was playing outside his home on Saturday, was lured into a car driven by Willard Thomas.  Thomas is alleged to be the biological father of the child, however no paternity has ever been established or documented and his name does not appear on the child’s birth certificate.  The boy’s mother is deceased and he is being raised by his grandmother in Harrisburg.  The grandmother has full and exclusive legal custody of the child.

After the child’s abduction on Saturday, the child’s grandmother contacted Thomas through text messages and he promised to return the child.  However, when he failed to return the child, the grandmother contacted Detective Trovy on Monday, June 5, 2017.  Detective Trovy reached out to the CARE Team for their assistance.  With assistance from members of the CARE team and the US Marshals Service, Det. Trovy was able to track Thomas down to South Carolina.  On the morning of Tuesday, June 6, 2017, U.S. Marshals located and arrested Thomas for kidnapping the child.  They found the child safe and unharmed.  The child has since been returned to his grandmother.  Thomas is awaiting extradition from South Carolina to face kidnapping and other related charges here in Pennsylvania.        

The CARE Team is a multijurisdictional task force comprised member from the District Attorney’s Office and law enforcement agencies from across Dauphin County.  The team also includes representatives from Dauphin County’s Children and Youth Agency.   “It is exactly this type of situation why the CARE Team was founded,” stated Dauphin County Chief Deputy District Attorney Seán M. McCormack.  “We must be ready to hit the ground running if a child is ever abducted in Dauphin County.  You cannot waste a moment trying to learn how to investigate a child abduction after the incident occurs.  Time is just too valuable and the risks are too high to go into this type of investigation unprepared.”

In addition to Detective Paula Trovy, Detective Kirk Aldrich of the Harrisburg Police Department, Detective Sergeant Todd Johnson, Detective Andrew Dixon, and Detective John O’Connor of the District Attorney’s Criminal Investigation Division, District Attorney Child Abuse Coordinator Susan Kolanda, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Sprow, Chief Deputy District Attorney Seán McCormack and Harrisburg Police Lieutenant Gabe Olivera all assisted in this investigation.  Special thanks goes out to the U.S. Marshals Service for their successful recovery of this child.     

Note:  The charges against Willard Thomas are merely allegations at this time and Mr. Thomas is presumed innocent unless and until he is convicted in a court of law.