‘Welcome Home, Bobby’ : Abducted Boy, 13, Is Reunited With Family

Bobby Smith’s fearful 21-month Odyssey ended Thursday when the 13-year-old abducted boy flew across America into the embrace of his waiting family.

Accompanied by his father, Robert C. Smith Sr., the boy left New York by plane early Thursday, landed at Los Angeles International Airport and was driven to Long Beach, from which he had been lured in April, 1983.

His mother, Doris, and six brothers and sisters finally were able to greet him there late Thursday, three days after he was recovered by police in Providence, R.I. Also greeting the boy were dozens of reporters and photographers.

“Yeah, it’s nice to be home,” said Bobby, looking at the crush of reporters shouting questions at him. “But I’m a little nervous.”

“I just hoped that one day I’d get home. I had that hope that I’d always get back.”

David R. Collins, 54, an ex-convict who police said lured Bobby away after giving him money for video games and kept him as his son, remained jailed in Rhode Island without bail. He is charged with first-degree sexual assault and being a fugitive from California, where he is wanted for questioning about Bobby’s kidnaping.

“There were times that we did give up hope,” said Bobby’s sister, Sharon, 19. “But at other times we had faith in our hearts that he someday would come home.”

When that someday came on Thursday, the Smiths’ yellow clapboard home in downtown Long Beach was jammed with people, balloons, flower arrangements, “Welcome Home, Bobby” signs, and a congratulatory cake.

Late Thursday, Bobby sat on the couch, opening presents--models, a shirt, a sweater. His father stood to the side with a broad grin on his face.

“I think my expression says it all,” he said. “I’m ecstatic. It’s incredible. He’s doing very well. . . . He’s gone through a very serious trauma, but he’s the same old Bobby.”

Robert Smith seconded his daughter’s statement that the family never gave up hope, even leaving Bobby’s room as it was when he disappeared. “If you didn’t do that, you’re writing him off,” he said.

The boy’s mother was reunited with her son at an older son’s home in Long Beach to escape the media crowds. “I just grabbed him and gave him a big hug,” she said. Mother, father and son then drove to the family home for a reunion with brothers and sisters, family friends and former schoolmates.

Doris Smith and other relatives and friends awoke Thursday morning to see Bobby and his father on “Good Morning America.” Bobby said then that he felt “very relieved and happy” to be reunited with his family.

“He looks much different now. . . . Two years makes a difference,” Linda Weglowski, a family friend, said of the boy who was 11 when he disappeared. Standing in the family home, she pointed to the front window and talked of Doris Smith. “There used to be a desk in front of that window,” she said. “She used to just sit there and look for him, waiting for him to come home.”

Robert Smith said his son knew Collins through another child in Long Beach. After he was lured away from his family, Bobby told Rhode Island police, he had been taken to Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Arkansas, Louisiana, Washington state, Oregon and Springfield, Fall River and New Bedford, Mass.

They moved to Providence six months ago, but only on Monday, through a bizarre circumstance, was Bobby found. Police investigating a fatal car crash determined that the car belonged to Collins. When officers arrived at Collins’ Providence apartment, they found Bobby Smith.

The youngster’s father was reunited with his son in a tearful meeting Wednesday at the Rhode Island State Police headquarters.

After the first reunion, Bobby appeared before the Providence County Grand Jury, which is considering indictments against Collins. The next morning, after the television appearance, Bobby and his father flew home to California.

Police in Providence, meanwhile, continued their investigation into Collins’ activities. State police said they seized photographs of other children at Collins’ apartment and were forwarding those pictures to the National Center for Abused and Missing Children in Washington.

“We’re trying to confirm who they are,” said Detective Lt. Richard Wheeler.