The forged identification listed the boy as Elijah Carter.
Eli.
His recorded date of birth had been changed by two years.
His supposed parents were listed as Daniel and Marissa Rourke.
Marissa had died three years earlier.
According to the records, Eli had been privately educated and later enrolled at a residential school in Montana.
My heart pounded.
“He’s in Montana?”
“We don’t know if he’s still there.”
But for the first time, we had a location.
Investigators soon uncovered something even more disturbing.
Daniel Rourke had made regular payments to a private medical practice that no longer existed.
The payments began two days after the crash.
Attached to one invoice was a handwritten description.
Male minor, approximately twelve years old.
Head trauma.
Significant memory impairment.
I read those words until they blurred.
Benjamin had survived.
He had been injured.
And someone had taken advantage of his condition to steal him from us.
