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in: New Mexico, 1989, 1990,
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Pat Farmer

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Pat farmer

Pat Farmer

Real Name: Patricia Farmer
Aliases: Pat
Wanted For: Abduction
Missing Since: December 11, 1990

Case[]

Details: Fifty-year-old Pat Farmer is wanted for kidnapping her four-year-old grandson, Jerad Peters. Her daughter, Ladonna Morrow, is Jerad's mother. The abduction occurred during a scheduled visit in Hobbs, New Mexico, on December 11, 1990.
That afternoon, Ladonna and her second husband, Neil, held a lonely roadside vigil as they waited for Pat and Jerad to return. By nightfall, there was still no sign of them. Every time a car passed, Ladonna would get nervous, thinking it was them. Although she was almost certain Pat had taken off with Jerad, she felt she just could not leave and go home. By midnight, she was forced to accept the unthinkable: her own mother had kidnapped her son.
Ladonna readily admits that her relationship with Pat had always been stormy. But she never imagined Pat would go to such lengths. The background to this carefully planned abduction is almost as bizarre as the act itself. Pat has created a scenario of incredible proportions that has separated Ladonna from Jerad. Perhaps someone can bring Jerad home to his mother.
Jerad was born on November 5, 1986. His parents were still teenagers. But by the time he was three, the marriage had fallen apart. Ladonna took a full-time job and went back to school. She asked Pat to care for Jerad while she was at work and school. Pat agreed, even though she had been violently opposed to the divorce.
According to Ladonna, Pat was the type of person who was happy as long as she got her way. Ladonna says that they were good friends when she did exactly what Pat wanted her to do. But when Ladonna separated from Brian and moved in with her father, Pat’s feelings toward Ladonna changed. She felt Ladonna was “terrible” because she was not doing what Pat wanted her to do. So, Pat went from Ladonna’s “little friend” to her “worst enemy.”
Ladonna would have been horrified if she had known how Jerad was spending his days. Using books and home video cassettes, Pat had begun exposing him to images of Satanism and the occult. According to Ladonna, on a few occasions, when Jerad returned from his visits with Pat, he was either upset or not acting like himself. She says he acted like something was wrong and that he needed to rely on her, but something was holding him back.
Over a period of months, Pat began tape-recording odd conversations with Jerad. It was all part of a secret master plan. During one conversation, Pat told Jerad that he had previously said he had gone to a “bad house” that was all dark and filled with many people who did mean things. When she asked him if that had happened, he nodded his head. She told him he had to say “yes,” which he then did.
In September 1989, Pat played edited tapes of her recordings with Jerad to a receptive audience: Ladonna’s estranged husband (and Jerad's father), Brian Peters. He had trouble believing that Ladonna would do those things to Jerad. But Pat insisted Jerad was telling the truth. According to Brian, Jerad said there was a “mean house,” and a “monster” was mean to him. The monster would take him into a pool, like a bathtub, and molest him. The monster would also spank him and make him do “bad” things.
When Brian heard these stories, he became angry and concerned for Jerad. At Pat’s urging, Brian took action. During one of Jerad’s visits, Brian decided not to allow Jerad to go back home with Ladonna. Soon afterward, Ladonna went to Pat’s house. She wanted to find out why Brian was keeping Jerad from her. At the time, she did not know that Pat and Brian had been talking and that he had stayed at her house a few times.
Once Ladonna arrived, she told Pat she wanted to talk about Jerad. Pat said he was not there. Ladonna accused Pat of knowing where he was. Pat confirmed this, saying he was “being well taken care of.” Ladonna called out to Jerad, thinking he was there. She told Pat that they had no right to keep Jerad from her. Pat, however, refused to help.
Ladonna says that things kept getting “crazier and crazier.” She wasn’t able to sleep or eat. She constantly called Pat and Brian to try and find out what was going on. But they would not tell her anything.
At a custody hearing in December 1989, Pat’s audio tapes of her conversations with Jerad were entered into evidence. Ladonna and her then-fiancé, Neil, were accused of emotional and sexual abuse. For the first time, Ladonna realized the full scope of Pat’s manipulation. She says Pat made it sound like she was the devil in disguise and “the worst thing that ever walked the earth.” She does not know why Pat wanted to hurt her like that.
The judge placed Jerad in the custody of the Department of Human Services so that Pat’s claims could be fully investigated. Ladonna never expected that Pat would accuse her of being a devil worshiper since Pat knew she was always involved in church. She was very embarrassed by the things that were said about her. It hurt her feelings so badly that she was at a total loss for what to say. For her, it seemed like everything was being taken away. All her dreams and hopes for Jerad came “crashing down” on her.
Ladonna kept thinking that the courts would change their minds, but they did not. She was judged to be an “unfit” parent, and Jerad was placed with a foster family. She was allowed to visit with him for just one hour every week. Each visit was held under the watchful eye of a social worker. Ladonna tried to make Jerad feel like he was “the best thing in the whole world” during the visits. They would play, and she would bring him new toys. She says they had a good time, but it was so hard to leave and walk away from him.
Brian was also allowed to see Jerad once a week. During one visit, the truth of Pat’s deception began to emerge. On that day, Brian and Jerad went to the park. While they were together, Jerad opened up to him. Jerad said that Neil and Ladonna had not hurt him. He also said that Pat had told him to say those things.
Brian immediately contacted the sheriff’s department. Pat retaliated by charging that he, too, was involved in Satanism. The sheriff’s investigators determined that Pat’s allegations were groundless. Custody officials reversed their earlier decision. After two months, Ladonna was finally reunited with Jerad. However, the court did grant Pat one visitation day per month with him.
December 11, 1990, was a scheduled visitation day for Pat. She wanted to take Jerad on an out-of-town shopping trip. When Ladonna told her she could not do that, she became furious. But Ladonna insisted that she could not take him on the trip. She finally relented. The two agreed they would meet at a nearby intersection at 9pm so that Ladonna could pick Jerad up.
Pat never brought Jerad back. They have not been seen since. Ladonna could not believe that after everything she went through to get Jerad back, Pat would be so “hateful, crazy, and mean” to take him away again.
Brian says that Pat likes to have control of everything around her. If she does not have control, she is not happy. He says that while he was married to Ladonna, Pat told him that she always wanted her own son. He thinks that she may have taken Jerad to fill that void.
Ladonna just wants Jerad back. She wants him to know that she loves him and will always be there for him. She says she will never give up hope.
Pat has been charged with parental kidnapping and custodial interference. She has a serious heart condition and requires daily medication. She was last seen driving a 1990 blue Nissan rental car with Texas plate number 316-XGH.
Extra Notes:

  • This case first aired on the December 18, 1991 episode. It was updated on the November 11, 1992 episode.
  • It was excluded from the FilmRise release of the Robert Stack episodes.
  • It was also featured on The Maury Povich Show.
  • The movie "A Kidnapping in the Family" was based on this case.

Results: Captured - When this story first aired, viewers in Louisiana recognized Pat and Jerad. However, they fled before they could be located. The FBI and local police also tracked them to Gulf Shores, Alabama, where they had stayed with relatives for about eight months. Once again, they were able to escape before they could be found.
On July 9, 1992, after this story was re-aired, several residents of Boonton, New Jersey, contacted the police, believing they had seen Pat and Jerad there. A woman and her grandson were taken into custody. She was around the same age and had the same hair and eye color as Pat. She also spoke with a southern accent. However, after two hours, it was determined that they were not Pat and Jerad; the woman was several inches taller than Pat, and her grandson did not have Jerad’s birthmark.
After The Maury Povich Show aired a story about this case, a viewer in Salt Lake City, Utah, recognized Jerad and contacted the state Department of Human Services. They, in turn, contacted the FBI. On August 20, 1992, FBI agents took Pat and Jerad into custody at a residence in Salt Lake City. His hair had been dyed to alter his appearance.
The police learned that a few months after Pat and Jerad disappeared, the two met up with Pat’s teenage daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend. They then lived together in various locations, including Mississippi, Texas, and Utah. They had been living in Salt Lake City since December 1991.
Informed that Jerad was safe, Ladonna drove all night from New Mexico to Utah to welcome him back. On the morning of August 22, the two were reunited in Salt Lake City. She says she was nervous and excited when she first saw him. She describes the reunion as “the best thing in the world.” She says he was “amazed” when he saw her, and “[they] reunited very easily, and everything has been great since.”
Brian says he was very excited when Jerad was found. Ladonna called him at around midnight with the news. He says he was so happy he was about to cry. He and Jerad were reunited soon after Jerad’s reunion with Ladonna. He thinks that Jerad is doing really well for what he has been through. He thinks that Jerad has adjusted very well. But he does not think Jerad realizes what they have been through.
Following Jerad’s return, Brian and Ladonna shared a hope that the events surrounding the abduction would not have a lingering effect on Jerad. She says it is hard to say what will happen in the future. She just wants things to be stable, everyone to be happy, and “for all the hurting to stop.”
Following her arrest, Pat was returned to New Mexico to face charges of kidnapping and custodial interference. In January 1994, she was found guilty of custodial interference. She was sentenced to eighteen months in prison and has since been released. Jerad is now married and remains in contact with Pat and Ladonna.
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