Boy Abducted by Fugitive Dad Returns Home
Sept. 22 -- Until recently, 4-year-old Christopher Samples was living a life on the run, sleeping in the daytime, hiding behind drawn shades and ducking down low each time he rode in the car with his dad.
His father, Mark Samples, won the Navy's medal of heroism for saving the lives of fellow sailors aboard the USS Stark when it was hit by an Iraqi missile in 1987. But he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after the strike, and says it led him to rob a credit union in May of 2001.
Samples was free on bond, awaiting trial for bank robbery in June 2002, when police say he abducted Christopher, then 2 ½ years old. He told his estranged wife, Jennifer Bjork, that they were going on a two-week camping trip. Bjork says she believed that Samples was panicked about the trial date and fled.
The FBI launched a nationwide search for Samples, but the search was coming up empty until two weeks ago. An anonymous tipster who saw photos of Mark and Christopher Sample on the show America's Most Wanted pointed authorities to where the two had been living in East Rochester, Ohio.
Samples was arrested and the boy was returned to his mother and grandparents in an emotional reunion in Pepin, Wis.
"Hi, Christopher. Do you remember Mama, and Nana?" Bjork asked him. "Do you remember honey? Did you know this mama dinosaur has been looking everywhere, and today she found her baby dinosaur?"
Staying Awake to Watch Son Sleep
Christopher was away from his mother for more than a year and a half, but she says their bond of love was unbroken. Bjork says it feels to her as if Christopher has been born all over again.
And the little boy is adjusting well after his traumatic ordeal. Christopher told his mother he spent his days sleeping and nights awake in order to avoid being seen.
Now Bjork says she is staying awake nights to watch her son sleep in his own bed again.
For now, Bjork says Christopher will continue to readjust, play with his cousin, Dylan, and just live a life in the open with his family.
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