Marvin Leroy Maple (January 14, 1936 – May 26, 2016) was an American grandfather arrested at age 73 for kidnapping two of his grandchildren more than 20 years earlier.
After losing a custody dispute with the children's natural parents in 1989, Maple and his wife moved from their home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, taking their 7-year-old grandson and 8-year-old granddaughter with them.
In 1987, the grandparents offered to take care of the two older children, until the parents and youngest child got settled in Louisville, Kentucky, where Mark would attend the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
An arrest warrant was issued, and sheriff's detectives and private investigators searched for 20 years, checking records, questioning family members, and requesting help from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
[7] The whereabouts of the Maples and their grandchildren remained a mystery until February 2009, when they were discovered alive and well in San Jose.
[8] In May 2017, after eight years of silence following being found, the grandson, now only answering to Jon Bunting, publicly spoke out in defense of his grandparents, stating that, "They sacrificed everything so we could have normal lives."