Abduction Suspect Returned to County

A Wisconsin woman accused of abducting her son and hiding him from his father for 17 years was returned to Ventura County early Saturday to face criminal charges. She was released on $250,000 bail just hours later.

Authorities last week arrested Linda Susan Decker, 37, on suspicion of child abduction after receiving an anonymous tip that she was visiting relatives in a resort area south of Savannah, Ga.

Decker, now known as Michelle Jones, is accused of taking her son, Morgan, from the family’s Camarillo home when he was 9 months old, setting off a 17-year search by the boy’s father, Oxnard High School teacher Robert Decker.

Linda Decker was extradited Friday from Georgia to Ventura County and booked into County Jail about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, authorities said. She was released on bail at 7:45 a.m.

Decker is scheduled for arraignment July 31.

Decker was charged in 1982 with one count of child abduction and, if convicted, faces a maximum of three years in state prison, authorities said.

On Saturday, Robert Decker’s Camarillo attorney said her client had no plans to meet with his ex-wife or to attend her arraignment.

“We’re very supportive of whatever the district attorney’s position is in this,” attorney Theresa McConville said. “We’d never do anything to jeopardize the actions they’re taking.”

Robert Decker still has not heard from the son he hasn’t seen since July 1981, McConville said.

Decker’s son, now known as Michael Jones, is a 17-year-old honors student and star track athlete living in Twin Lakes, Wis.

Because the youngster is nearly an adult, authorities said he will continue to live in Wisconsin and that any reunion with his father will be left up to him.

“It’s my understanding at this point he’s being advised not to make any comment,” the 51-year-old Decker, a Camarillo resident, said last week. “I don’t blame him for being reticent. He needs to filter out everything he has been through in the last week.”

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Since July 10, the youngster’s life has been turned upside-down.

Linda Decker had remarried and Michael believed that her new husband was his biological father, authorities said.

With his mother’s arrest, authorities said, the youngster has learned that he had a past he knew nothing about.

He was born Morgan George Decker in Camarillo in October 1980. In the spring of the next year, he traveled with his mother to visit relatives in San Jose. That is when Robert Decker said he learned they would not be coming back.

What ensued, Decker said, was a series of court battles over visitation. He said he had a two-week visit in mid-July, when Morgan was about 9 months old. That was the last time he saw his son.

Over the next 16 years, Decker turned to investigators with the Ventura County district attorney’s Parental Abduction Unit for help in finding his boy. He also tapped into resources available through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

He even hired a private investigator to follow leads through Alaska, Missouri and Illinois.

On Wednesday, as word spread that the youngster had been found, Decker finally got to see his son again. His photo flashed on a television screen during a news story about the abduction, a picture taken from the youngster’s high school yearbook.

“Talk about a shock,” Decker said. “There was my son’s face and I had never seen it before. I’ll tell you, there’s definitely a strong family resemblance.”

Decker has said he does not want to rush to a reunion. He wants the youngster to take his time, to call him or come meet with him at his own pace.

“I’m just thanking God every day that he’s been found,” Decker said. “My hope is to eventually get away with him for a couple of days so we can get to know one another and unravel this mystery together.”