Tall order: Kalispell family follows all legal avenues and leans on prayers from loved ones to bring two young sons home from Oklahoma

The boys came back.

Two years after Montana sounded its first Amber Alert, two Kalispell boys whose mother took them to Oklahoma are home again with their father, stepmother and stepsister.

The Amber Alert, which posts information nationally on kidnapped and abducted children, was canceled when authorities learned that Jake and Larrison Stevens mother had taken the boys without warning on Aug. 28, 2003. The alert is not used in parental-abduction cases.

Although Larry Stevens knew within days that it was the boys mother who took them, that knowledge didnt make them less gone. Concerned about their welfare in Oklahoma, Stevens and his wife, Stacia, embarked on a long, frustrating mission to bring the boys home.

Three trips to Oklahoma, a custody order from Flathead County, contact with Montanas U.S. senators and the Department of Justice, a private investigators work and the help of a national, private organization followed. In the end, it was a phone call with Jake, 13, that led to the familys reunion.

Larry regularly called to talk with the boys. Jake typically was not talkative. But three weeks ago, he had a lot to say to Larry and part of it was, I think wed like to come back to Montana.

I could kind of hear the desperation in his voice … I was speechless, Larry said.

Jake told Larry that he and his maternal grandmother had talked about how the boys should go home. It was the boys grandmother who was supporting them in Oklahoma, Larry said.

Even when she said they had become too much of a burden for her and that they need a life, Larry was skeptical that she would really let them go.

This aint no trick, is it? he asked. I knew I didnt want to drive 1,800 miles to Oklahoma to get slammed with more disappointment.

He and Stacia had gone through so much of that. They had tried to follow legal avenues for getting the children home.

All that was a suitcase full of meaningless paperwork, he said.

Authorities in Oklahoma wouldnt comply with the Montana custody order. The boys mother had one of her own there, and every trip the Stevenses made to Oklahoma ended in just another long-distance impasse.

When Larrys hope was sapped, Stacia infused him with hers, he said. The couples friends and customers at their Evergreen store, Affordable Sports, offered love and support and prayers, Larry said.

That had to be what worked. The legal system didnt, he said.

It was with a mix of trepidation and hope that he left two weeks ago to try again. His private investigator suggested that Larry pick up the boys in a public place, they walk to him, and that the event be recorded as proof that Larry didnt force his own sons into his truck.

They met at a park, and it was finally over.

On the way home, Larrison talked about Montana and asked Larry, Did you build me a mountain?

In a sense, Larry and Stacia Stevens did a build a mountain a towering effort at getting the boys back.

Jake, now a seventh-grader at Fair-Mont-Egan School, said he wasnt aware how hard his father and Stacia were working at trying to get him home. Hes glad to know that now.

Life down there wasnt that great, Jake said.

He wound up taking on a parenting role with Larrison, taking care of his little brother in a lifestyle without much structure to it, Larry said.

I owe Jake more than I can ever express to that kid, Larry said. Hes been this kids lifeline, he said, gesturing at Larrison.

Now, Larry promises his oldest son, You dont have to be a parent. You be a 14-year-old. I promise, well take care of you.

The transition of having the boys back has gone smoothly, the Stevenses said.

Its like they were gone only for days, Stacia said.

Ashley, their 16-year-old stepsister, has welcomed her stepbrothers without a second thought.

Theyre settled into school and a routine at home. Larrison has got more security around him than the pope in case his mother tries to take him again, Larry said.

But otherwise, the family is just glad to be intact again.

Children arent property, Larry said. They are not a bargaining chip you use to hurt other people.

Thats what he tells the people who have been checking in with him for the last two, long years when their support helped keep him going.

Without them, it would have been 10 times harder than it was, and it was pretty damn tough.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com